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A - 1 



EVERYCHILD’S SERIES 


* 


HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




EVERYCHILD’S SERIES 


HEROES OF CONQUEST 
AND EMPIRE 


BY 

ETTA M. UNDERWOOD 


Nefo gfltk 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1916 

All rights reserved 



Copyright, 1916 , 

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 


Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1916. 



Nortocotf ^reaa 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 



MAY 18 1916 

©Cl. A 4 31101 


I - 



TO 

MY FATHER AND MOTHER 




Dear Young Leaders : 

Whenever girls and boys work and play to¬ 
gether, some of them are sure to be leaders. 
One may be a leader in a game, in thinking of 
helpful acts, or in making lessons worth while. 
How may we know which leaders are good ones ? 
How may a leader know when he is doing right ? 
Perhaps this book will help you in learning to 
choose good leaders, for it tells of heroes who 
were so splendid that for hundreds of years girls 
and boys, and men and women, have enjoyed 
learning about them. It may tell, too, what a 
leader needs to do. 

Do leaders need to study ? Read about Peter 
the Great going into other countries to learn 
from them. Read about Gustavus Adolphus 
studying so hard that at eighteen he is thought 
wise enough to be king. How do you answer the 
question ? 


vii 


viii HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Do leaders care for other people? Mahomet 
as a child was dearly loved. Kublai Khan was 
a kind friend, finding many ways in which to 
show his thoughtfulness. Gustavus died making 
plans for his baby daughter to be queen. And 
all these heroes proved generous to their ene¬ 
mies as well as loyal to their friends. 

What kind of thinking must leaders do? Wil¬ 
liam sees the alarm of his soldiers when he falls 
on English soil. They take it for a bad sign. 
By a quick joke he makes them see that it may 
be a good sign and so puts heart into them. 
Gustavus finds the battle going against his 
forces. He makes a new plan so quickly and 
carries it out so rapidly that they gain the vic¬ 
tory. Mahomet grieves to see his people wor¬ 
ship idols and meditates a long time until he 
thinks of a better kind of worship. Alexander 
gains many victories, but when he learns that 
his soldiers think the time has come to return 
home, he yields to them. Why was this a hard 
thing for him to do? Of whom were these 
leaders thinking? 

These heroes are from many countries. They 


HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE ix 

spoke different languages. They worshipped God 
in different ways. But I think you will find that 
they agreed in one point: each was living and 
planning for the success of a great idea. “ Think 
only of the cause/' was the message of one of 
them. Would this be a good rule for any leader? 
Could a girl or a boy leader use it ? What cause 
is making your home, your school, your city, a 
better place in which to live ? 

May every leader who reads this book find 
success in some great cause. 

Your friend, 


THE EDITOR. 



CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. William the Conqueror . 

. 


. 

PAGE 

1 

II. 

Kublai Khan 

. 

. 

. 

. 28 

III. 

Gustavus Adolphus 

. 

. 

. 

. 58 

IV. 

Peter the Great 

. 

. 

. 

. 94 

V. 

Mahomet the Prophet 

. 

. 

. 

. 117 

VI. 

Alexander the Great 

, 

. 

, 

. 149 


xi 





































































































HEROES OF CONQUEST AND 
EMPIRE 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 
I 


W ILLIAM, Duke of Normandy, was in 
his royal park, near Rouen, starting 
forth with many of his knights to the chase. In 
his hand he held his bow — the great bow which 
no man but himself could bend — bent and strung 
and ready for the arrow. The Duke turned to 
hand it to the page whose office it was to bear it 
for him. Even as he was in the act, the gate of 
the park opened and a stranger entered. Travel - 
worn and dusty, he had the appearance of one 
who had journeyed fast and far, as indeed he 
had, for he was a messenger from England. 

The stranger greeted Duke William with 
bended knee; and then, taking him aside, said in 
a low voice, "King Edward has died and Earl 
Harold has been crowned King of England.” 


l 


2 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Duke William, hearing his message, spoke 
never a word; such was the wrath in his counte¬ 
nance that no man dared to speak to him. He 
stood motionless save as 
his fingers laced and un¬ 
laced his mantle. The 
wild beasts of the forest 
might live at peace that 
day, for he had no longer 
any mind to hunt them. 

Turning, he strode 
away from the company, 
and having crossed the 
Seine in a boat, he 
entered the great hall of 
his castle, where he sat 
down on a bench, with 
his head against a pillar, 
and covered his face with his mantle. A long 
time he sat thus. No one dared to ask him what 
had so angered him. 

At last William Fitz Osbern, the Duke's 
seneschal and intimate friend, entered the hall, 
humming a tune as he came. He walked 



He had the Appearance of 
One who had journeyed 
Far. 






WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 


3 


straight by the Duke, still humming cheerfully. 
Many asked Fitz Osbern what the news might 
be which had so greatly affected their master. 
Duke William, hearing, looked up. 

Then said Fitz Osbern to the Duke: “It is 
vain for thee to try to hide that which thou hast 
heard, for already it is told abroad through all 
the streets of Rouen. Every man in the city 
knows now that Edward, King of England, is 
dead, and that Harold, Earl of Wessex, has been 
crowned King.” 

Then answered William: “This is in truth the 
news that has grieved me. What could grieve 
me more? For Edward was my kinsman and I 
sorrow for his death, while it makes me full of 
wrath that Harold has broken his pledge to me 
and now holds the kingdom. Thou thyself 
knowest that Edward, having no heirs, promised 
the crown to me on his death. And thou canst 
bear witness how Harold swore upon the sacred 
relics that he would be my man and receive me as 
King of England upon Edward's death.” 

Then answered Fitz Osbern in a loud voice 
so that all present in the hall could hear: “Yea, 


4 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

truly I can bear witness. Well I remember the 
day when there came to thee here a messenger 
from Harold. Kneeling before thee, he told 
thee that Harold, on his way hither with a message 
from the King, had been shipwrecked. Chance 
had driven him upon the coast of Ponthieu which 
was ruled by Count Guy, thy vassal. By him he 
was held in fetters, and he prayed thee to deliver 
him. Then thou didst send in swift haste to 
Count Guy and bade him bring Harold straight¬ 
way to thee, treating him with all honor. And 
when Harold came thither, thou and thy lady 
did load him with kindness. And before he left 
thee, thou didst promise him thy daughter in 
marriage, while he swore to thee even as thou 
hast said.” 

“Yea,” answered Duke William. “When he 
told me that he had come thither to promise me 
the crown, I caused him to ratify his promise 
by an oath. And that his oath might be thrice 
sacred, I had caused to be placed beneath the 
altar on which he swore the most sacred relics 
of the land. After he had sworn the oath, I 
showed him the relics, that he might know how 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 5 

utterly he had pledged himself. Methinks even 
then he plotted treachery, for he grew pale and 
trembled when he beheld these relics. And now 
he hath broken his faith and so hath insulted all 
the saints of Normandy/’ 

“And now,” said Fitz Osbern, “it seems a 
time not to mourn but to act. It remains only 
for thee to carry through that which thou hast 
begun.” 

Thus spoke Fitz Osbern, for he knew well 
what would please his Lord. 

For a moment Duke William looked at him in 
silence, and then he thundered: “Thou hast well 
said. I will go to England and take the crown 
that of right belongs to me.” 

II 

It seemed well to William first to send an 
embassy to Harold to remind him of Edward’s 
promise and his own vow and to demand that he 
give up his crown. This he did, not because he 
thought that Harold would yield to his demands, 
but because he wished to put him in the wrong in 


6 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


the eyes not only of Normandy but of the other 
countries of Europe. 

“I am King of England/'said Harold, through 
the envoy, “ because it is the will of the people of 
this country that I rule them. The vow I made 
thee under force is void, for it lies not in my power 
to give to thee or to any other man the Crown of 
England. That can be bestowed by the Witan 
alone." 

Having received this answer, Duke William 
prepared to invade England. His barons must 
first be won to the scheme; for without them, as 
he told them frankly when he had summoned 
them before him, he could do nothing. But the 
wary nobles were reluctant to consent to the 
scheme. It was one thing to fight for their lord 
in France, as by their oaths they were bound to 
do, but quite another to cross the seas to a foreign 
country. This was a service they were not bound 
to render. 

If they were cautious, the Duke was wily. 
Many arguments he brought to bear upon them: 
there were lands and rewards awaiting all who 
distinguished themselves in his service; there 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 7 

was the plunder that would make them rich; 
and, besides, there was the privilege that they 
might win the favor of God and His saints by 
avenging the insult offered to the saints of 
Normandy by Harold in breaking his oath. 

The assembly of barons, having heard William's 
speech, asked time to debate the matter among 
themselves, and William could but grant their 
request. Straightway the Assembly broke up 



He spoke privately with the Barons. 


into groups, all eagerly discussing the great ques¬ 
tion. While they still wavered in their minds, 










8 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


Fitz Osbern enlisted their support to the enter¬ 
prise by a daring trick. He spoke privately with 
many of the barons, sympathizing with them in 
all their reasons for fearing to undertake the 
expedition. 

Finally the barons said to him, "Be thou our 
spokesman to William, and we will agree to what¬ 
ever thou sayest.” 

Then Fitz Osbern stood forth in the assembly 
and declared to William that his barons were 
ready to assist him in his undertaking. He 
promised in the name of the Assembly that every 
man there present would not only cross the sea 
himself with the Duke but would bring with him 
twice the number of knights he was wont to 
bring to his Lord’s service. 

"For myself,” said Fitz Osbern, "I promise 
to furnish sixty ships well equipped and filled 
with warriors.” 

The barons listened in amazement, and then, 
perceiving the snare in which they had been 
caught, broke into an uproar. No wonder they 
were alarmed, for they feared that if once they 
granted double the accustomed number of men- 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 9 

at-arms, William might thereafter claim an equal 
service on other occasions. Too excited to act as 
a body, the assembly broke up. 

Then William conferred with each baron apart; 
and such was his persuasiveness that, having been 
assured that the doubling of his service should 
not become a promise for the future, each baron 
in turn agreed to serve him as a volunteer. The 
cautious William, lest any man should draw 
back from his promise, had scribes and clerks at 
hand who set down at once in a book the number 
of ships and soldiers promised by each man. 

In the weeks following, the woods of Normandy 
resounded with the blows of the axe, while, .in the 
seaboard towns, axe and hammer alike were 
busy. Six hundred and ninety-six ships were 
made ready and offered to William by the barons 
and prelates of his land. These ships were large, 
open boats with a single mast and sail and a 
smaller boat attached. The ship which was to 
convey the Duke himself was the gift of his be¬ 
loved wife, Matilda. Crimson was its sail; on 
its figurehead was a boy wrought in gold, blowing 
an ivory horn which he held to his mouth with 


10 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

his left hand, and with his right he pointed toward 
England. The ship was called the Mora. 

At last, in the month of August, the Norman 
fleet was ready to sail. The government of Nor¬ 
mandy William left in the hands of the Duchess 
Matilda, while he hastened to join his fleet in 
the harbor at the mouth of the Dive. He found 
his army of now eager volunteers clamorous to 
depart. But to be wafted to the shores of Eng¬ 
land, a south wind was necessary, and day after 
day no south wind blew. 

Meanwhile, Harold with a large fleet had been 
patrolling the coasts of England all summer in 
order that he might cut off the Normans before 
ever they could land on English soil. But 
as William waited at Dive a month for a favorable 
wind, Harold was obliged to disband his navy 
both from lack of provisions and because his 
ships were manned for the most part by farmers 
and ploughmen who were eager to return to their 
harvests. 

Hearing of this, William, taking advantage of a 
west wind, moved his fleet to St. Valery, a point 
nearer the coast of England. Anxiously the 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 


11 


Duke watched the weathercock on the minster 
of St. Valery. When it turned in the least toward 
the south, his hopes arose; tears filled his eyes 
as it again veered 
to the north. He 
failed not daily to 
offer prayers and 
devotions within 
the church. 

The sky was 
gloomy; the 
weather cold and 
rainy; for fifteen 
days the powers 
of nature seemed 
in league to pre¬ 
vent the enter¬ 
prise. Many of 
the soldiers muttered in their tents: “Evidently 
God is against this undertaking. The man is 
mad who attempts to conquer countries across 
the seas.” 

Then, at Duke William's request, the abbot 
and monks of St. Valery came forth in solemn 





12 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


procession, bearing the shrine which contained the 
body of St. Valery. A carpet was spread on the 
ground and the shrine placed thereon, so that all 
could behold it. Humbly, Duke William and 
his entire army knelt in prayer for a favorable 
wind. Then each in turn deposited his offering 
upon the shrine, so that it was completely hidden 
by the gold pieces heaped upon it. 

Seemingly as a reward for their faith and liberal¬ 
ity, straightway the desired wind blew. Then a 
mighty shout of joy rose from the camp. Men 
embraced each other in their delight. Fear was 
gone. Why should those so evidently favored 
by heaven fear either stormy seas or hostile 
English ? 

In the midst of their rejoicing came William’s 
order to embark at once. Then there was a 
friendly rivalry to see who could first be on the 
ships. Each man’s only fear was lest he be left 
behind. Some came down to the boats, bear¬ 
ing arms and weapons upon their shoulders. 
Some yoked themselves to wagons laden with 
spears or provisions. The cavalry hastened to 
their horses on board. Some were setting up 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 13 

the masts and unfurling the sails. All was clamor 
and bustle. 

Duke William, having visited once more the 
minster of St. Valery, this time with thank 
offerings, boarded his own ship, and immediately 
launching out into the deep, anchored there, 
awaiting the others. 

Soon all had assembled about their leader's 
crimson sail. The sounds of the drum, of the 
cymbal, and of the pipe resounded through the 
ships. It was now evening. The sky was over¬ 
cast and the moon hidden. 

Suddenly the sound of the trumpet was heard. 
All listened to hear the herald give the Duke's 
commands. Each ship was to bear a light. Al¬ 
ready from the top of the mast of the Mora a 
huge lantern blazed, to be the guiding beacon 
of the entire fleet. That they might not reach 
the English coast before daylight, they were to 
sail for only a few hours that night, and then 
rest at anchor until their commander signalled 
them to advance again. 

Having dined, the host set sail, and after¬ 
wards anchored as William had commanded. 


14 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Before dawn, however, the trumpet sounded 
and the Mora's lantern guided the fleet toward 
England. 

William's boat, as if in response to his eager 
spirit, outsailed the rest so that when day dawned, 
his ship was alone. He anchored, and ordered 
a sailor to climb the mast to see whether any of 
the other ships could be seen. The sailor could 
see nothing but the gray sea and the gray sky. 
Then William cheerfully ordered a bountiful 
breakfast to be spread and a cask of wine to be 
opened. He bade his men be of good cheer, 
for their comrades would soon be with them, in¬ 
asmuch as God was watching over the safety of 
the whole fleet. 

Again he commanded the sailor to climb the 
mast. This time the sailor announced that 
four ships were in sight. Later he cried out 
that he saw so many masts that it was as if 
a forest had risen out of the waves. Duke 
William once more lifted up his heart in praise 
to God. 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 


15 


III 

The southern coast of England was soon in 
sight. The Norman fleet came to anchor in the 
ample harbor at Pevensy. 

Duke William was the first armed man to step 
on shore. As he did so, his foot caught, and he 
was thrown headlong, with both arms outstretched, 
upon the beach. A cry of grief arose at the 
unlucky omen, but William’s ready wit quickly 
changed the mishap into an omen of good 
import. 

“Thus,” he cried, “I take possession of the 
soil of England.” 

No English fleet had interfered with the 
approach of the Normans to the coast, and now 
no warrior opposed their landing. Where was 
the brave Harold at this critical moment when 
an invading foe threatened his crown ? 

The question was soon answered by the foragers 
whom William sent out to get supplies. While 
the Norman Duke was successfully landing his 
troops in Southern England, Harold was engaged 
in deadly conflict with another foe in Northern 


16 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

England. The same wind which had so long 
delayed William’s coming, had served to bring 
an invading army from Norway, under Tostig, 
Harold’s traitor brother, the Norwegian King. 
Rapidly Harold had marched to the north and 
beaten the Norwegians in the great battle at 
Stamford Bridge. But even while the victorious 
army was feasting in jubilation over the victory 
won, a messenger arrived with the tidings of 
William’s landing. A double storm had burst 
upon his country. Harold hurried back to 
London, calling to his standard as he marched 
all who were true Englishmen. Six days only he 
tarried in London, waiting for his fresh levies 
to join his army; and then he hastened south 
to meet the enemy. 

William, meanwhile, had fixed his camp at 
Hastings. He allowed his men to plunder at 
will the surrounding country. Whatever they 
could not carry off they ruthlessly burned. The 
Normans seized the boys and girls and even 
grown women and carried them off as slaves. 

No wonder that the tidings of these ravages 
roused Harold’s wrath and hastened his march. 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 17 

Indeed, this was the wily Duke's intention, for 
he desired to come to battle at once. 

One of Harold's spies was discovered in the 
Norman camp. William ordered him shown all 
about, and then, having feasted him, sent him 
back to Harold. This spy reported to Harold 
that the army of William was made up largely of 
priests. This he thought, because the Normans 
were smooth shaven, — the English allowed the 
hair and beard to grow long. Harold, knowing 
the custom, laughed. 

"No priests will ye find them in battle," he 
said. "They be all brave fighting men." 

Now the English host is close upon the Normans. 
To-morrow they will meet and offer battle. This 
night the English rest in a wood, cheering their 
hearts with old Saxon songs. The Normans 
spend the night confessing their sins and sleeping. 

At dawn Duke William leads his host forward 
to meet the enemy. They, too, have risen early, 
and the Normans, advancing, soon see them 
drawn up in battle array on the level top of the 
hill called Senlac. 

Duke William halts his army on the heights 


18 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

opposite Senlac, that he may survey the enemy's 
arrangement and set his own troops in battle 
order. 

In the centre of the English army, at the 
crown of the hill, at the very point where the 



Drawn up in Battle Array. 

land begins to slope downward, William perceives 
the royal standards floating. The Dragon of 
Wessex gleams in the sunlight, and Harold's 
own banner is there, picturing a warrior going 
forth to battle, richly embroidered in gold and 
blazing with precious stones. 

Beneath the standards stands Harold with 












WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 


19 


his two brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine. About 
them are ranged his bodyguard and the flower 
of his army. All these are mail-clad warriors, 
armed with javelins and swords and the terrible 
long-handled axe. Some of their shields are 
kite-shaped, others are round. The front rank 
stands with shields closely locked, an invincible 
wall so long as they keep their line. Behind the 
mail-clad warriors stand, in dense array, the half¬ 
armed peasants who have flocked to the standard. 
They have brought whatever weapons they have. 
Whether armed with spear or pitchfork, dagger 
or rude stone hammer, all stand, with stout 
hearts, awaiting the attack. 

Duke William calls for his armor. Hastily 
donning his shirt of mail, he discovers that he 
has put it on wrong side to the front. “ Thus I 
change my Duchy for a Kingdom/' he laughs, 
putting to flight the fears of those who are troubled 
at what they fear is a portent of evil. Around 
his neck he wears as a charm some of the relics 
upon which Harold had sworn the oath he had 
failed to keep. 

Now he sets his troops in battle array. In 


20 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

front are the archers. Behind them William 
places the heavy-armed footmen. These, are 
protected by shirts of mail extending to the 
knees, while upon their heads they wear conical 
helms with projecting nasals. Their shields are 
all kite-shaped. Their weapons are long lances. 
Behind these come the cavalry, armed like the 
footmen, save that besides the lance they bear 
heavy short swords. 

Two men in the Norman host bear the terrible 
mace. They are Duke William and his brother, the 
Bishop of Bayeux. These two ride in the centre 
of the army beneath the Banner of Normandy 
and the consecrated standard sent by the Pope. 

Duke William makes a vow to erect a mighty 
minster upon the very spot where the English 
army awaits him, if victory is his. Now, at the 
hour of nine, having urged his troops to bear 
themselves “ manfully and wisely,” William gives 
the signal to advance to the attack. 

As the Norman lines press forward, Taillefer, 
a juggling minstrel, rides ahead of the line, as if 
to challenge the whole English host to do battle 
with himself alone. From Duke William he 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 


21 


asks and obtains leave to strike the first blow. 
Riding up the hill, he sings gayly the Song of 
Roland; and, throwing his sword into the air, 
he catches it by the hilt as it falls. Some English 
skirmishers ride down to meet him. The first 
Taillefer thrusts through with his lance; the 
second he strikes down with his sword; and then 
he falls himself, overcome by many blows. 

The Normans like not to see him fall, but they 
comfort themselves with the thought, “ A Norman 
struck the first blow .' 7 

Now the Norman archers let fly a shower of 
arrows, and the army press sturdily up the hill. 
“God help us ” is their battle-cry. “Holy Rood,” 
“God Almighty,” are the cries of the English. 

The Saxons have left not an inch of level ground 
for the Normans to stand on. From their vantage 
ground they hurl showers of hammers and javelins 
upon the advancing foe. Their positions, to¬ 
gether with their great size and enormous strength, 
give deadly effect to their blows. If any Norman 
reaches the shield wall and attempts to break in, 
the terrible battle-axe hews him down, while the 
English shout, “ Out! Out! ” 


22 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 



The left of William's line, unable to hold their 
ground under the showers of missiles, waver, 
break, and flee. A portion of the English right, 
unable to resist the temptation, leave their ranks 

and pursue the 
fugitives down 
the hill. 

The disorder 
spreads to Wil¬ 
liam's centre. 
He is unhorsed. 
A cry is raised 
that he is dead. 
He hurls from 
his seat a knight 
who has refused 
to give him his 
horse. He leaps 
into the saddle. 
He gallops among 

“Here I am, Alive.” 

the fleeing men. 
He tears off his helmet. He shouts, "Here I am, 
alive, and, please God, we will yet conquer." 

The flight is checked; the Normans turn and 







WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 23 

slay the English who have ventured down the 
hill. 

Again the lines are formed and advance against 
the breastwork of shields. Duke William makes 
straight for the English Standards, for it is his 
will to meet Harold face to face. But before he 
comes to him, the Duke is unhorsed by Gyrth. 
The next moment William has hurled Gyrth to 
the ground, dead from one fell blow of his dreadful 
mace. By the blow of another Norman, Leof- 
wine also is slain. Now William has another 
horse. Again he charges against Harold. Once 
more he is unhorsed by an English spear, and its 
owner shares Gyrth’s fate at William’s hands. 

The Norman archers send their arrows to small 
purpose; for, as they must aim uphill, they can 
aim only at the shields which protect the first 
rank, and the other ranks are out of sight. To 
make the attack effective, William orders the 
archers to shoot up into the air that the arrows 
may fall down upon the enemy from above. One 
fateful arrow pierces Harold’s right eye. In 
agony he supports himself upon his shield, but 
he does not desert the Standard. 


24 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Still the Normans have gained no foothold upon 
the hill. Now William shows himself a fox as 
well as a lion. He gives orders for a feigned 
flight, hoping thus to entice at least a portion of 
the English from their lines, even as the real 
flight had lured them earlier in the day. 

The Norman lines pretend to flee, and the 
English leap into the trap, for numbers of them 
pursue the seeming fugitives. 

Too late the English know their error as the 
fleeing Normans turn and attack them. On the 
hill in the gap they have left, William secures a 
foothold. 

William now orders a combined attack upon 
the centre where still waves the Standard. At 
last the English waver. The shield wall is 
broken. Harold falls. The Standard is beaten 
down. 

All day the battle has been raging. Night 
falls. Under cover of the darkness the English 
rustics take to flight. Yet even as they flee they 
turn again and again whenever they reach a point 
of vantage, and work havoc among their Norman 
pursuers. Of those who stand about the King, 


WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 25 

not one flees. They prefer to fight to the death. 
“They were ever ready with their steel, those 
sons of the old Saxon race.” 

The battle was over. The Normans held the 
field and camped that night among the slain. 
As William looked over the battle-field by the 
flaring torchlight, even his stern heart was moved 
to pity at the sight of the thousand dead or dying. 
At heavy cost he had vindicated what he believed 
his right. 

On the spot where Harold’s banner lay, Wil¬ 
liam knelt and gave his thanks to God. There 
he planted his own banner and ordered the space 
cleared and his tent spread thereon. 

Amid the cheers of his followers he removed 
his armor. Shield and helm were dinted by 
many blows, but he was uninjured. Having 
thanked his men for their valiant aid, he retired 
to his tent and refreshed himself with food and 
drink. 

All night the Normans watched. On the 
morrow they buried their dead. Thither came 
the women of the surrounding country craving 
for burial the bodies of their kinsfolk. Duke 



26 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


On Christmas Day they crowned William of Normandy, 
King of England. 








WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 


27 


William willingly granted their request. Har¬ 
old’s mother came begging the body of her son. 
She offered its weight in gold if only it might be 
given her. William gave her the body but 
refused the gold. 

Now Duke William marched slowly toward 
London, crushing all opposition as he went. The 
chief men of London came forth to meet him and 
offered him the crown of England. “They 
bowed to him for need.” On Christmas Day, 
in Westminster Abbey, those who in the same 
place in January had anointed Harold King now 
crowned William of Normandy, King of the 
English People. 


KUBLAI KHAN 


I 


The Coming of the Venetians to Cathay 
HE two brothers, Nicholas and Maffeo 



JL Polo, merchants of Venice, had been led 
by their zeal for trade to venture even as far as 
the city of Bokhara in Persia. While they so¬ 
journed in that city there came thither two 
Envoys on their way to the Court of Kublai 
Khan, lord of all the Tartars. The Envoys 
beheld the Two Brothers with astonishment, for 
they had never before seen Europeans in that 
part of the world. 

They said to the Brothers, “If ye will follow 
our counsel, ye shall find great honor and profit 
for yourselves.” 

They replied, “We shall assuredly be right 
glad to learn how.” 

Then said the Envoys: “The Great Khan hath 
never beheld any Latins, and it is his great de- 


KUBLAI KHAN 


29 


sire to do so. If, therefore, ye will travel in our 
company to his Court, ye may be certain that he 
will be rejoiced to see you, and he will treat you 
with the greatest honor and generosity. Further¬ 
more, in our company ye can travel in perfect 
safety.” 

The Venetians decided to follow the advice of 
the Envoys;, and having made their arrange¬ 
ments, they travelled together for a whole year 
until they came to Cathay to the Court of Kublai 
Khan. 

The great lord of all the Tartars received them 
most graciously; and, since the brothers could 
speak the Tartar language fluently, he held much 
converse with them. He asked them all manner 
of questions about the rulers and people of Europe, 
inquiring especially how they carried on war and 
how they were governed. He inquired also 
about the Christian religion and about the Pope. 
The merchants answered all his questions so 
truthfully, yet discreetly, that the Great Mon¬ 
arch was immensely pleased with them. 

Then Kublai Khan conceived that he would 
send the brothers on an embassy to the Pope, 


30 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

and the Polos agreed that they would carry out 
his wish even as though he were their Sovereign 
Lord. 

The Great Khan summoned one of his Barons 
to his presence and desired him to make ready to 
accompany the brothers. Afterwards the Khan 
caused letters to be written in the Tartar tongue, 
from himself to the Pope. In these letters he 
urged the Pope to send him at least one hundred 
Christian teachers, men intelligent and well 
educated, who could prove to idolaters and to 
all others by argument that the Christian religion 
was better than all others, promising that, if 
they could prove this, he himself and all under 
him would become Christians and acknowledge 
the authority of the Pope. 

This letter, with the messages they were to 
deliver by word of mouth, Kublai Khan intrusted 
to the two brothers and his own Baron. He 
also charged them to bring back some oil from 
the Lamp which burns on the Holy Sepulchre at 
Jerusalem. And the Khan gave them a gold 
Tablet of Authority, on which it was written that 
his Envoys should be supplied with everything 


KUBLAI KHAN 


31 


needful throughout the journey, whether food, or 
horses, or guides, in all the countries through 
which they might pass. 

Now when the three Envoys had travelled 
some days, the Baron fell ill. Having waited a 
time for his recovery, the brothers thought it 
best to leave him behind while they themselves 
proceeded to carry out the Khan's commission. 

The Baron was well pleased to have them do 
so. Accordingly they travelled on. 

Owing to the Tablet of Authority which they 
bore, all things which they asked for were pro¬ 
vided them, for the Great Khan was a very great 
Lord indeed. He was the overlord of nearly all 
of Asia and of Eastern Europe, even to the Volga 
and to the borders of Poland. Almost half the 
human race gave him their allegiance. But even 
the Tablet of Authority could not melt the great 
snows, nor quench the heavy rains, nor dry up 
raging torrents, so that it took the brothers three 
years to journey as far as Ayas, a city on the 
northeastern corner of the Mediterranean, in 
Armenia. 

Then they proceeded to Acre, where they 


32 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

learned that the Pope was dead and that no new 
one had yet been elected. It seemed good to 
the brothers, since they could not carry out the 
Khan’s commission until a new Pope was chosen, 
to go to Venice and see their families. Nicholas 
found that his wife had died during his absence, 
but that his son Marco, now a promising youth 
of fifteen, was still living. 

For two years they tarried in Venice, waiting 
for a new Pope to be elected. At the end of 
that time it seemed to them that they could no 
longer delay their return to Cathay, for they 
could not bear to think that the Khan would 
consider them unfaithful to their mission. For 
this reason, they set forth from Venice, taking 
Marco with them. However, having started on 
their way, they received tidings that at last a 
Pope had been chosen, and they joyfully turned 
back to seek him. 

The new Pope received them graciously and 
appointed two Friars of the Order of Preachers, 
men of great learning, to accompany them to 
Cathay, and he gave them gifts to bestow upon 
Kublai Khan. 


KUBLAI KHAN 


33 


Then the brothers and Marco set forth again, 
and the Friars with them, and they carried with 
them oil from the Lamp on the Holy Sepulchre as 
Kublai had requested. When they had travelled 
no farther than Ayas, the Friars, terrified by the 
perils of the way, declared that they would go no 
farther. Accordingly they turned back, but the 
three Venetians travelled on, winter and summer, 
for three and a half years, until at last they came 
to the Great Khan. 

When Kublai Khan heard that Nicholas and 
Maffeo Polo were on their way back to him, he 
sent a company forth full forty days’ journey, to 
escort them into his royal presence, in his summer 
palace in Shangtu. 

Guided by their escort, the brothers and Marco 
entered a park of surpassing beauty, surrounded 
by a wall sixteen miles in circuit. They beheld 
beautiful glades, streams, groves of rare and 
magnificent trees, and many a wild animal dart¬ 
ing to cover, for the Khan kept in his park all 
manner of wild animals that are not ferocious, to 
supply food for his hawks and gerfalcons, of which 
he had here many hundred. 


34 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 



At Last the Travellers reached the Wonderful Palace. 












KUBLAI KHAN 


35 


At last the travellers reached the wonderful 
palace built of the finest marble, where, in the 
Great Hall, Kublai Khan, lord of all the Tar¬ 
tars, sat awaiting their approach, with his 
Barons about him. At every door of the hall 
stood two men of gigantic stature armed with 
staves. Marco had already learned from his 
father that he would always find them standing 
at the doors of whatever rooms the Khan might 
be occupying, to see that no one stepped upon 
the threshold in entering the room, for that they 
thought an evil omen. 

Taking heed to their steps, they entered the 
Great Hall, which, like all the smaller halls and 
rooms of the palace, was covered with gilt on 
which were painted, with exquisite art, men, 
beasts, birds, and many kinds of trees and flowers 
most pleasing to the eye. 

At the farther end of the chamber, Kublai 
Khan sat upon an elevated throne, clad in robes 
of yellow silk, wrought with beaten gold and 
gleaming with precious stones and girt with a 
golden girdle. All the great company of Barons 
about him were clad in the same manner as their 


36 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 



Khan sat upon an Elevated Throne. 










KUBLAI KHAN 


37 


lord; their robes were all of the same color as his 
and were also embroidered with gold, though 
they were not so costly. All that they wore was 
of one color from their yellow turbans to their 
yellow satin boots. 

The Venetians drew near his Majesty, and 
paid their respects to him by bending the knee 
and prostrating themselves on the floor before 
him. 

The Khan straightway commanded them to 
rise and showed the greatest pleasure at their 
coming, asking them many questions as to their 
welfare, especially on their journey. They an¬ 
swered, “We have in truth sped well since we 
find your Majesty in good health.” 

They then presented him with the letters and 
gifts sent him by the Pope, and after that with 
the oil from the Holy Sepulchre, all of which 
pleased him well. 

Observing Marco Polo, the Khan asked who 
the young man in their company was. 

"This, Sire,” replied Nicholas, "is my son and 
thy servant.” 

"He, too, is welcome, and I am well pleased,” 


38 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


quoth Kublai, and he caused Marco Polo to be 
enrolled on his list of attendants. 

In honor of their arrival, Kublai made a great 
feast, with much rejoicing; the brothers and 
Marco received honor and attention from every 
one. 

They abode at the Court with the other Barons. 
As long as they remained in the land, the Great 
Khan honored them even above his own Barons. 

Young Marco soon showed himself a youth of 
great promise and discretion. He made rapid 
progress in learning the customs and the language 
of the Tartars. Indeed he soon could speak 
several tongues, besides being able to read and 
write four languages. Kublai Khan, observing 
his ability, soon employed him on important 
missions. 

The Great Khan really loved his people and 
desired their welfare. Every year he sent his 
commissioners to discover whether any of his 
subjects had lost their crops through violent 
storms or droughts or by locusts or worms or 
other plague. If any had thus suffered, he would 
not only remit their taxes that year but would 


KUBLAI KHAN 


39 


also supply them with corn from his granaries 
both for food and for planting their fields. For 
this reason he made great collections of grain in 
times of plenty, so that he might be able to relieve 
famine and distress when they should occur. 

Likewise when there had been great loss of 
cattle in some district, from his own herds he 
would make good the loss to those who were 
afflicted. 

The first important service Kublai Khan in¬ 
trusted to Marco Polo was to send him to ascer¬ 
tain the condition of a province a full six months' 
journey distant. Young Marco made note on 
his journey of the interesting and peculiar customs 
of the countries along his route, so that when he 
returned to Court, he was able not only to relate 
clearly the matters relating to the business on 
which he had been sent, but also to entertain the 
Khan with a vivacious and intelligent account of 
what he had seen and heard throughout his trip, 
to his Majesty's great surprise and delight. 

"If this young man lives," quoth the Khan, 
"he will become a man of great worth and repu¬ 
tation." 


40 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


II 

The Feast of the New Year 

The summer months the Great Khan was wont 
to spend at Shangtu, because of the coolness of 
the place; but at the end of August he proceeded 
to his capital city, the city we call Peking to-day, 
but which was then known as Cambaluc. 

Time would fail to tell all the wonders of his 
great palace there. It was only one story in 
height, but the roof was very lofty, and, as Marco 
Polo tells us, “The Hall of the Palace is so large 
that it could easily dine six thousand people; 
and it is quite a marvel to see how many rooms 
there are besides. The building is altogether so 
vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on 
earth could design anything superior to it. The 
outside of the roof also is covered with vermilion 
and yellow and green and blue and other hues, 
which are fixed with a varnish so fine and exquisite 
that they shine like crystal and lend a resplendent 
lustre to the Palace as seen for a great way round.” 
Within the Palace “you could see nothing but gold 
and silver and paintings” on walls and ceilings. 


KUBLAI KHAN 


41 


In this Palace were held the great feasts of the 
year, which were the celebration of the Khan’s 
birthday and the feast of the New Year. 

Marco Polo, who was often present at these 
feasts with his Father and Uncle, has told us how 
they celebrated these days. 

It was the custom, on the beginning of their 
new year, for the Khan and all his subjects, men 
and women, high and lowly, to dress entirely in 
white. This they did to insure good fortune for 
themselves through the year, for they deemed 
white clothing a bearer of good fortune. 

On the first day of their year, too, the people of 
all the provinces and kingdoms which owed al¬ 
legiance to the Khan were wont to bring him 
great gifts of gold and silver, pearls and rubies, 
and rich textures of various kinds. Moreover, 
more than one hundred thousand white horses, 
most beautiful animals, richly caparisoned, were 
each year presented to the Khan. 

Besides giving gifts to the Emperor, the people 
also exchanged white gifts among themselves, 
and making merry, wished one another hap¬ 
piness throughout the year. 


42 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

On this great feast day, all the Khan’s elephants, 
numbering no less than five thousand, passed in 
parade. All of them were covered with gay 
housings of cloth richly embroidered with gold 
and silk in figures of birds and beasts, and each 
animal bore upon its back two splendid coffers 
filled with the Khan’s gold plate and other fur¬ 
nishings for the feast. Behind the elephants 
followed a vast number of camels, also richly 
caparisoned and also laden with things needful 
for the feast. As all these passed in procession 
before the Emperor, it was, to the Venetians at 
least, “the finest sight in the world.” 

Furthermore, before the tables were set for the 
feast, all the Kings, Dukes, Marquesses, Counts, 
Barons, Knights, and other officials from all the 
places thereabout presented themselves before 
the Emperor in the Great Hall, while those for 
whom there was no place in the Hall stood with¬ 
out in such a position that the Khan could behold 
them all. When every man was seated according 
to his rank, a great prelate rose and said, “Bow 
yourselves and adore.” 

Instantly all the company bowed down until 


KUBLAI KHAN 


43 


their foreheads touched the ground, as if Kublai 
Khan were a god. Then the prelate said, "God 
bless our lord and long preserve him in the enjoy¬ 
ment of happiness.” 

All answered, "So may it be.” 

Then the prelate said, "May God enlarge his 
Empire and increase its prosperity more and 
more, and may abundance prevail throughout 
his Dominion.” 

The people again said, "So may it be.” 

Then all prostrated themselves to the earth 
four times, a ceremony after which each man 
went in turn to an altar, richly adorned, on 
which lay a red tablet with the Khan's name 
inscribed thereon. When the prelate had per¬ 
fumed the tablet and the altar reverently with 
incense, each man humbly prostrated himself 
before the tablet. When this was finished and 
each man had returned to his place, they forth¬ 
with presented Kublai Khan the gifts they had 
brought him. After the Khan had looked over 
the great display, the tables were prepared for 
the feast, at which both men and women were 
present. 


44 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

These tables were arranged in rows, with two 
people at each table. At the north end of the 
Hall sat Kublai Khan, with his chief wife beside 
him, his table being elevated high above all the 
others. On his right sat his sons and his nephews, 
but lower, so that their heads were on a level 
with his feet. The other Barons sat with their 
wives at tables still lower. Great as the Hall 
was, the tables were so arranged that the Khan 
could see them all. On each table was set a 
golden flagon filled with wine, with a golden cup 
for each guest. 

Throughout the feast, certain Barons went 
about constantly to see that every one was rightly 
seated and that the servants kept all well sup¬ 
plied with food and drink. 

Those who waited upon the Khan himself were 
Barons of the highest rank who were obliged to 
hold fine napkins of gold-embroidered silk before 
their faces lest any breath of theirs might reach 
their lord's food. When the Great Khan called 
for drink, the Baron who handed it to him re¬ 
tired three spaces and kneeling down made a 
deep prostration before his Majesty, upon which 


KUBLAI KHAN 


45 


all who were present prostrated themselves. At 
the same time, the musicians, with flutes, harps, 
and lutes, all began to play. Then the Khan 
drank. And each time he drank this same 
ceremony was repeated. 

When all had dined and the tables had been 
removed, a great lion was led into the Hall, 
which, when'it came before Kublai Khan, lay 



There it remained lying, entirely unchained. 


down before him with every sign of reverence as 
if it acknowledged him master. There, before 
the ruler, it remained lying, entirely unchained. 











, 46 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Then entered a great number of players and 
jugglers skilled in the most marvellous feats, who 
performed before the Khan and his guests, caus¬ 
ing great amusement, so that every one laughed 
and enjoyed himself. 

When the performance was over, every man 
went to his own quarters. 

Ill 

The Wickedness of Achmath 

The natives of Cathay, whom we call the 
Chinese, were subjects of the Great Khan, not 
because such was their choice, but because he 
had conquered them; and Kublai Khan was 
wont to employ his own Tartars or Christians or 
Saracens in all important positions. This he did 
because he deemed that those who were foreigners 
in the country would be more devoted to his 
interests than the people whom he had conquered. 

There was a certain Saracen, named Achmath, 
who had more influence with the Khan than any 
other Baron; in fact the Khan held him in such 
high favor that he allowed him to do what he 


KUBLAI KHAN 


47 


pleased. So absolutely did Kublai Khan accede 
to his wishes that it was believed that Achmath 
gained his power over him by means of sorcery. 

Achmath gave away all public offices and pro¬ 
nounced judgment against all offenders. If he 
bore ill will toward any man, he had only to go to 
the Khan and say, “Such a person has committed 
an offense against your Majesty and is deserving 
of death.” 

The Emperor would reply, because of his faith 
in Achmath, “Do as you judge best.” 

Straightway Achmath would cause the man 
whom he disliked to be executed. Men felt such 
fear of incurring his displeasure that a man who 
was accused to the Emperor of a capital crime 
and who wished to furnish proofs of his innocence 
could find no man who would dare to bear witness 
in his favor. 

Further, this Achmath had accumulated great 
treasure by taking bribes from every one who 
desired an appointment. He also had twenty- 
five sons who held important offices; and of 
these no less than seven committed abominable 
wickedness under cover of their father's authority. 


48 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

For twenty-two years the people suffered under 
Achmath’s uncontrolled power. At length the 
Cathayans could endure his multiplied acts of 
injustice no longer; they secretly conspired to 
slay him and revolt against the government. 
Two leaders in the plot were Chenchu, commander 
of a thousand, who for good reason was burning 
with resentment against Achmath, and Vanchu, 
commander of ten thousand. 

They decided that the time to carry the plot 
into execution would be during the Khan’s absence 
from the city in summer, when Achmath remained 
in charge of the city. Having arrived at this 
decision, Vanchu and Chenchu imparted their in¬ 
tention to certain leading Cathayans, through 
whom word was passed on to their friends in many 
other cities. The plan was that upon a certain 
day when a signal should be given by beacon fires, 
they should massacre all the men with beards in 
their cities. The order was given in this way 
because the Christians, Saracens, and Tartars 
wore beards and the Cathayans were naturally 
beardless. 

At the time appointed, Chenchu and Vanchu 


KUBLAI KHAN 


49 


entered the palace at night. Vanchu, sitting 
down in one of the royal seats, caused a number of 
lights to be kindled before him. Forthwith he 
sent a messenger to 
Achmath's residence re¬ 
quiring his immediate 
attendance upon Chin- 
kin, the Great Khan's 
eldest son, who, it was 
pretended, had arrived 
unexpectedly. 

Achmath was much 
surprised at this intelli¬ 
gence but as he stood in Chenchu and vanchu en- 

. „ _ . tered the Palace at Night. 

much awe of the Prince 

he hastened to the palace. At the gate he met 
a Tartar named Cogatai who was captain of the 
twelve thousand troops that formed the garrison 
of the city. 

He asked, “ Whither do you go at this late 
hour?" 

“To Chinkin, who has just arrived," answered 
Achmath. 

“How can that be?" quoth Cogatai. “How 

E 



50 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

could he arrive so secretly that I should know 
nothing of it?” 

Nevertheless he followed Achmath with a 
number of his soldiers. 

When Achmath came inside the palace and saw 
all the illumination, he prostrated himself before 
Vanchu, supposing him to be the Prince. Where¬ 
upon Chenchu, who was 
standing ready with his 
sword, straightway cut 
off AchmatlTs head. 

The Cathayans be¬ 
lieved that if only 
Achmath were slain 
they would have naught 
else to fear. But Coga- 
tai, who had halted at 
the door and had seen 
what occurred, shouted, 
‘‘Treason/ ’ and instantly 
let fly an arrow which 
slew Vanchu where he 
sat. At the same time he gave orders to his 
soldiers to seize Chenchu and he sent a proclama- 





KUBLAI KHAN 


51 


tion through the city to slay all people who were 
on the streets. But the Cathayans, perceiving 
that their plot had been discovered and being 
deprived of their leaders, kept still in their houses 
and so were unable to give the signal by beacon 
fires to the other cities. 

Cogatai immediately sent a careful account of 
all that had occurred to the Khan. Kublai sent 
back word for him to investigate the matter and 
award punishment according to the guilt of those 
involved in the plot. Accordingly, Cogatai put 
to death all who were discovered to be leaders, 
and had the same thing done in the other cities 
when it was learned that the plot had extended 
to them. 

When the Emperor returned to his capital, he 
was anxious to know the reasons which had led 
to the rising; he called upon Marco Polo to 
explain the matter. Then Marco with great 
boldness related the crimes and oppressions of 
Achmath, which had made him an object of 
detestation throughout the Empire. 

Kublai Khan’s eyes were opened, and he praised 
the courage of Vanchu. The Khan also com- 


52 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

plained that his courtiers who had refrained from 
admonishing him as to what was going on had 
put their fear of Achmath above their devotion 
to the interests of the state. 

Then he commanded to have the body of 
Achmath dug up and cast to the dogs, and he 
condemned the seven sons, who had shared in 
their father's wickedness, to be flayed alive. 

IV 

The Departure of the Venetians from 
Cathay 

When the three Venetians had been in the ser¬ 
vice of Kublai Khan seventeen years, and had 
accumulated great wealth for themselves in gold 
and jewels, the longing to see their native city 
became so great that it overshadowed every other 
desire. Kublai Khan was now an old man, and 
if he should die there was no hope that they would 
ever see Italy again, for only the protection and 
assistance of the friendly Emperor could make 
the hazardous journey through Asia possible. 

Accordingly, one day, when Kublai was par- 


KUBLAI KHAN 


53 


ticularly cheerful, Niccolo threw himself down at 
his feet and begged his Majesty’s gracious per¬ 
mission for himself and his family to return to 
Italy. But so far from granting his request, the 
Great Khan appeared greatly hurt. 

“What motive can you have,” he asked, “for 
wishing to leave me and to endure the risks of 
such a long and dangerous journey in which you 
would probably lose your lives ? Is it gain that 
you seek? Then I will give you double all that 
you have. Do you seek greater honors? Then 
I will give you your hearts’ desires, whatever they 
may be. Only, I have such affection for you and 
I prize so highly your company, that I positively 
refuse to grant your petition to leave me.” 

When the affairs of the Venetians were in this 
pass, there came to the Court three Ambassadors 
with a gallant retinue, from Argon, lord of the 
Levant. The wife of Argon, who had lately died, 
had besought him to take no other lady for his 
wife save one of her own family which dwelt in 
Cathay. In compliance with her wish, then, 
Argon had sent this embassy to ask of Kublai 
Khan a bride of his former wife’s family. 


54 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

The Emperor received them most graciously, 
and straightway sent for Cocachin, a very beauti¬ 
ful and charming maiden. On her arrival at 
Court he presented her to the Ambassadors as 
the lady chosen in accordance with their request, 
and they declared themselves highly pleased. 

When everything had been arranged for their 
departure, and a numerous suite of attendants 
had been selected to accompany the promised 
Queen of King Argon, they received from the 
Khan his gracious permission to depart. 

For six months they travelled back over the 
same route whence they had come, but then they 
found all further progress in that direction im¬ 
possible because of wars which had broken out 
between certain Tartar princes. Accordingly, they 
returned reluctantly to the Court of Kublai Khan, 
and acquainted him with the cause of their retreat. 

At the time of their reappearance in Court, 
Marco Polo returned from a journey to India, 
whither he had gone as the Khan’s Ambassador, 
and made his report of all that he had seen on his 
travels and of the seas over which he had voyaged. 

When the three Ambassadors heard of his 


KUBLAI KHAN 


55 


travels, they were greatly impressed. Already 
they had observed that the Venetians were men 
of uncommonly good sense, and they sought con¬ 
versation with them. Sharing confidences, the 
Venetians learned that Argon's Ambassadors 
were in great haste to return to their country, 
having already been gone three years. The 
Ambassadors likewise learned that the Venetians 
were on fire to return to Venice. And so it was 
agreed that the Ambassadors with their young 
Queen Cocachin should seek an audience with 
the Khan and request that they be permitted to 
make the return journey by water. Then, if the 
Khan acceded to their request, they were to beg 
his Majesty to allow the Venetians to accom¬ 
pany them, so that they might profit by Marco's 
knowledge and experience of the Indian seas. 
This plan was carried out. 

His Majesty listened graciously to their re¬ 
quests until they asked that the three Latins 
might return with them. At that, the Khan’s 
countenance darkened, and yet he could not with 
propriety refuse. Reluctantly, he sent for the 
three Polos, and having assured them of his 


56 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

unvarying affection for them, he required from 
them a promise that they would return to him in 
a few years. To make their return possible, he 
gave them gold Tablets of Authority as on former 
occasions. Also he intrusted to them messages 
to deliver to the King of France, to the King of 
England, to the King of Spain, and to all other 
Christian princes. 

Meanwhile a fleet of thirteen large ships was 
made ready and stocked with provisions for two 
years. These ships were each provided with four 
masts and twelve sails, and some of them were 
so large that they carried crews of no less than 
two hundred and fifty men. When all was ready 
the Two Brothers and Marco took their leave of 
the Great Khan, and received from him as a 
farewell token of his Majesty's favor a great 
number of rubies and other beautiful gems. 
Then, with the lovely Queen Cocachin and her 
retinue all went on board the ships, a very great 
company. 

A year and nine months they sailed, beholding 
many marvels on the way, until they came to 
the land whither they were bound. Of their 


KUBLAI KHAN 


57 


number six hundred had died, among them two 
of King Argon's barons, but of the maidens 
on board one only had perished. Meanwhile, 
King Argon himself had died, so that when the 
young bride at last reached his kingdom, she was 
given to Argon's son in marriage. 

The Brothers and Marco had watched over and 
guarded Queen Cocachin and her maidens as if 
they had been their daughters, so that when the 
Venetians took their leave of Queen Cocachin to 
return to their own country, she wept for sorrow. 

About this time, tidings came to them of the 
death of Kublai Khan, and hearing that, they 
knew they would never again visit Cathay. 

As to the return of the three travellers to Venice 
and as to how they were put to it to prove even 
to their own kinsmen that they were themselves, 
so changed they were in appearance in the long 
years since they had departed from Venice, and 
how, in war with Genoa, Marco was taken prisoner 
and in prison related to a friend, who wrote them 
down, all the tales of his travels in the East and 
of the mighty Kublai Khan, — all this would be 
“ another story." 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, THE LION OF 
THE NORTH 

I 

The Thirty Years' War 

D URING the years when the English Pil¬ 
grims and Puritans were coming to 
America to win religious freedom, there was 
being waged in Germany a most cruel and 
dreadful war. This war is known in history as 
the Thirty Years' War. 

Germany, at that time, was made up of several 
principalities, each under its own duke or prince. 
Seven of the most important princes were called 
electors because it was their duty to elect the 
Emperor, who, in name at least, was the ruler 
over all Germany. 

At the time when the Thirty Years' War began, 
a large part of the population of Germany were 
Protestants, perhaps as many as nine-tenths. 
Many of the princes, however, were Catholics. 
58 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


59 


In 1619, the electors, on the death of the Emperor, 
elected in his stead Ferdinand, of the House of 
Hapsburg, an Austrian prince, a man of iron will 
and a Catholic. 

The Emperor Ferdinand determined to make 
his rule over Germany a real one, instead of one 
that existed only in name. He determined, also, 
to force Germany back into the Catholic faith. 
The effort to carry out this double purpose re¬ 
sulted in a terrible war which made Germany a 
desert and put back her development at least a 
hundred years. 

In the first twelve years of the war, all went 
badly for the Protestants. They were divided 
among themselves and beaten by the Emperor's 
armies. Apparently the liberties of Germany 
were to be lost, and Protestantism crushed. The 
Protestant King of Denmark came to their assist¬ 
ance, but he was well whipped by the imperial 
armies under the generals Tilly and Wallenstein, 
and then, having been bribed with a large sum of 
money to keep out of the contest thereafter, he 
returned to Denmark, and all Europe laughed 
at him in scorn. 


60 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

In despair, the Protestants of Germany turned 
to Gustavus Adolphus, the King of Sweden, and 
implored him to come to their assistance. 

II 

Gustavus Adolphus and his People 

“ Don’t go into that wood,” said his nurse to 
Gustavus Adolphus one day when he was but 
three years old; “there are big snakes there.” 

“Just give me a big stick,” the little one an¬ 
swered, “and I will soon kill them all.” 

The boy’s education was very careful and 
thorough. Distinguished men who had travelled 
much in Europe were his tutors. When he 
reached manhood, Gustavus Adolphus could talk 
fluently in five different languages and could read 
seven. When he had reached his tenth year, he 
used to attend the debates of the Council and 
to assist in receiving ambassadors from foreign 
countries. Indeed the boy was often called upon 
to make the speech of welcome on such occasions. 

One of his tutors was an able soldier who in¬ 
structed him in the art of war. There came to 



GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 61 

the Swedish court many soldiers of different 
nations, who had taken part in foreign wars. 
They found in the child an absorbed listener to 
their tales of adventure. He would steal time 


One of his Tutors was an Able Soldier. 

from sleep and from his books to ask them ques¬ 
tions. The Viking blood that flowed in his veins 
leaped at their tales. 

At the age of eleven, the young prince entered 
the army at the lowest step. Patiently he worked 
his way up. When he was sixteen, his country 
was engaged in a campaign in Russia in which 







62 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

the boy soldier was eager to join. Forbidden 
the privilege, he experienced intense disappoint¬ 
ment and chagrin. His opportunity came in a 
few months, however, when he was overjoyed at 
receiving a command in the war with Denmark. 
The next year brought troubles enough for him 


to grapple with, for 1 
him to the throne of 



He was Noble in Appearance. 

noble in appearance 
Never did Sweden r( 


father s death brought 
Sweden. By the law of 
Sweden, a king might 
not rule Sweden in his 
own name until he was 
twenty-four years of 
age. The Estates, or 
Legislature of Sweden, 
however, declared Gus- 
tavus already of age 
and crowned him King 
with full powers. Tall, 
broad-shouldered, and 
handsome, with clear 
blue eyes and golden 
yellow hair, he was 
is well as in character, 
gret the confidence she 




GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


63* 


showed in the young King. Through the twenty- 
one years he ruled the land, King and people were 
united in rare love and trust. 

The young King was forced to battle for the 
defence both of his crown and of his country. 
There were wars to fight with Russia, Poland, 
and Denmark. When, seventeen years later, 
these contests were brought to an end, Gustavus 
had extended Sweden's boundaries on the east as 
far as where Petrograd now stands, thus gaining 
control of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. 

Meanwhile, both Gustavus and his army had 
been receiving a training in the art of war which 
was to be of the greatest service. His army of 
stout, loyal Swedish peasants surpassed every 
other army in Europe in discipline, steadiness, 
and equipment. If the peasants were steady and 
reliable, the high-spirited nobles who commanded 
them were equally devoted to their King and 
general. Gustavus had made many improvements 
in the weapons used by his troops and in the ar¬ 
rangement of his forces in battle, which made it 
possible for them to move about easily and swiftly. 

Even while the King was occupied with his 


64 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

northern wars, requests for aid had come to him 
from the distressed Protestants of Germany. As 
soon as he was free to enter the lists as their 
champion, he resolved to respond to their appeals 
for help. 

As he was wont to ask the advice of his Council 
and of the Estates in all matters, he now called 
them together, and thus addressed them : 

“Ferdinand is on the Baltic; he has nearly all 
the ports in his hands. His whole aim is to 
destroy Swedish commerce, and soon to plant 
a foot on the southern shores of our Fatherland. 
Sweden is in danger from the power of Hapsburg ; 
that is all, but it is enough; that power must be 
met swiftly and strongly. . . . The danger is 
great. It is no time to ask whether the cost will 
not be far beyond what we can bear. . . . For 
myself, I foresee that I have no more rest to expect 
but the rest of eternity. . . . The fight will be 
for parents, for wife and child, for house and 
home, for Fatherland and faith.” 

The Estates were won by his appeal, and voted 
at once to levy heavy taxes and to raise an army. 
All classes, nobles, merchants, and peasants, 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


65 


were ready to make sacrifices in loyal support 
of the King they trusted. 

Before setting sail from Sweden, Gustavus once 
more called his Estates together to say farewell. 
It was a solemn occasion, for both King and peo¬ 
ple had a foreboding that they should never see 
each other again. Gustavus brought before them 
in his arms his little three-year-old daughter Chris¬ 
tina and commended her to their love and protec¬ 
tion. If he were to die, she would be the successor 
to his throne. Gustavus told his people how the 
country was to be governed during his absence, 
and went over again the reasons for entering upon 
such a great undertaking. 

“As to what concerns me,” he said, “lam not 
unaware of the dangers to which I expose myself. 
Already many times my blood has flowed for 
Sweden, and my love for the country doubtless 
will cost my life some day, for it is by being often 
carried to the fountain that the pitcher is finally 
broken. That is why, before leaving the country 
this time, I commend ye all, dear people of Sweden, 
to the protection of God, and bid you farewell, 
perhaps forever.” 


66 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


III 

The “Snow King” 

With about fifteen thousand troops, Gustavus 
set sail from Sweden and cast anchor off the island 
of Riigen in June, 1630. In a little boat, the 
King led the disembarking of his troops. As 
soon as he had landed, he knelt and prayed aloud 
earnestly. Then, first of the army, he seized a 
spade and began work on the intrenchment which 
was to guard the landing of his troops. 

The King’s first task was to secure the coast 
of northern Germany, in order to be sure of his 
communications by sea with Sweden. Having 
accomplished this, he advanced slowly into Ger¬ 
many, capturing and garrisoning the strong places. 
He was determined to leave no enemy to rise in 
his rear and cut off his retreat. 

His army was under strict discipline. The 
soldiers whom he quartered in private houses 
were forbidden to demand more than bed, salt, 
vinegar, and the right to cook at the fire. All 
supplies were scrupulously paid for. 

This was in marked contrast to the conduct 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


67 


of the troops of Tilly and of Wallenstein, the 
Emperor’s generals, who lived upon the country, 
plundering, burning, and, in their lawless cruelty, 
sparing neither women nor children. 

The two armies of Ferdinand together numbered 
more than a hundred and thirty-five thousand. 
Small, indeed, in comparison, seemed the little 
army of fifteen thousand which Gustavus brought 
to Germany. The Imperialists despised him. 
“So we have got a new little enemy, have we?” 
sneered the Emperor. “ The Snow King,” mocked 
Wallenstein, “ will melt away like the snows of his 
northern kingdom if he advances into Germany.” 

Meanwhile most of the German princes, the 
very ones who had urged his coming, received 
Gustavus very coldly. They would wait and see 
what he could do before coming to his assistance. 
John George, the Elector of Saxony, the most 
powerful Protestant prince of Germany, was 
especially stubborn in his refusal to join Gustavus. 
This prince, who was a hard drinker and an 
enthusiastic sportsman, hoped to keep out of 
trouble by remaining neutral. 

“It is no time to be neutral,” urged the Swedish 


68 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

king. “You must either be with us or be con¬ 
sidered our enemies/' To all the princes who 
still hung back he spoke plainly, “Either join us, 
or I will leave you to fight your battles alone." 

John George, however, turned a deaf ear to 
Gustavus, until forced by the Emperor himself 
to choose which side he would support. 

“Restore to the Catholics all church property 
which the Protestants have taken possession of 
during the past seventy-five years," demanded 
Ferdinand of John George. “Disband your 
army and come with your subjects and serve in 
my army under Tilly." 

Tilly himself came into Saxony with the impe¬ 
rial army to enforce these demands. Two hundred 
blazing villages marked his path across Saxony 
toward Leipsic. This was more than John George 
could stand. “What a reward," said he, “for my 
refusal to join the Swedes against the Emperor! " 

Now, finally, reduced to extremities, John 
George fairly threw himself into the arms of the 
Swedish king. An alliance was made between 
them. John George swore to furnish pay and ra¬ 
tions to the Swedish army for a month, and to 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


69 


open his cities and the passes in his country to 
the Swedish army. He swore to join his army 
to the King's, and to relinquish to Gustavus the 
supreme command. Gustavus promised to stand 
by John George to the last extremity and to drive 
the Emperor's army from Saxony. 

So deep was the Elector's wrath that he was 
eager to join in battle with Tilly at once. Indeed, 
he declared that if Gustavus were unwilling to 
offer battle, he himself would alone attack the 
Emperor's army. 


IV 

The Battle of Leipsic 

Though Gustavus had been in Germany now 
fourteen months he had not been able to force 
the enemy to join him in a decisive battle. At 
last the opportunity had come. Tilly and his 
army, over thirty thousand strong, were encamped 
on the plains outside Leipsic. Gustavus with his 
new allies advanced toward him. 

The night before the battle the Swedes slept 
but seven miles distant from the enemy; Gustavus 


70 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

slept in his travelling coach with two of his 
generals. “As soon as the sky began to gray,” 
wrote Gustavus afterwards, “I gave the order 
for the trumpets to blow for the advance, and, 
because between us and Leipsic there was no wood, 
but only great flat fields, I drew out my army in 
full battle array and marched toward the city. 
The march lasted a short hour and a half when we 
came in sight of the advanced guard of the enemy 
with his artillery on a hill and behind it the whole 
mass of the army.” 

As they stood in position for battle, the Saxon 
army was by itself at the left of the Swedish 
formation. Of these Saxons, Gustavus wrote, 
“The Saxons were well mounted and fine fellows 
to look at.” A certain doughty Scotchman who 
served in the army of Gustavus also has left us a 
word as to the appearance of the allied armies. 
“The Saxon officers,” says he, “looked as if they 
were going in their best apparel and arms to be 
painted;” and of the Swedes he says, “having 
lain overnight on a parcel of ploughed ground, 
they were so dusty, they looked like kitchen 
servants.” 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


71 


Gustavus himself wore no armor over his ordi¬ 
nary buff coat; and on his head he wore only a 
gray hat with a green feather. The whole 
Swedish army wore cheerful green twigs in their 
hats, and their rallying cry was, “God with us.” 

Gustavus had his infantry and cavalry in¬ 
terspersed in groups. Riding his great war horse, 
he commanded a company of cavalry on the 
right, while Field Marshal Horn, the second in 
command, directed the Swedish left. 

Comparing the army of Gustavus with that 
which faced him under Tilly, an eye-witness says, 
“Tattered and worn and dirty looked our people 
compared with the besilvered and begilded and 
beplumed Imperialists. Our Swedish horses were 
but small compared to the gigantic German 
chargers; our Swedish peasant lads made a poor 
show alongside the handsome, troops of Tilly.” 
The gold and silver ornaments which decked the 
garments of the imperialistic army, and the 
plumes which nodded from their caps, were the 
plunder of hundreds of towns. 

Their commander, Tilly, now an old man of 
seventy-two, had the reputation of never having 


72 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


lost a battle. Many of his men had been follow¬ 
ing him for twenty years; they were well-seasoned 
warriors. As the old man rode along the lines on 
his familiar little white pony, clad in old-fashioned 
Walloon costume, — slashed hose, a doublet of 
green satin, and a red ostrich plume hanging down 
to his belt from his small cocked hat, — thou¬ 
sands of voices greeted him with cries of " Father 
Tilly! Father Tilly!” 

All the imperial army fastened white handker¬ 
chiefs in their hats. " Jesus-Mary,” was their 
war cry. Tilly's cavalry on his right wing, 
opposite the Swedes under Horn, was under 
Colonel Pappenheim, a dashing, intrepid, high- 
spirited officer. The cavalry Pappenheim com¬ 
manded, the famous "black cuirassiers," thus 
called from their black armor, was the finest 
body of cavalry in Europe. 

As soon as the imperialist saw the Swedish army 
within range of their guns, Tilly’s artillery opened 
fire and forced the Swedes to advance and take 
their positions under its constant hammering. 
But as soon as Gustavus’ cannon were in position, 
they answered the Emperor’s cannon "three 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


73 


shots to one,” and, as the King’s gunners were the 
surest of aim in Europe, his guns did fearful 
execution. 

Finally, having been tormented for over two 
hours by the galling fire of the Swedish artillery, 
Pappenheim lost patience. Without receiving 
any command from his general, Tilly, the im¬ 
petuous officer led his five thousand cavalry in 
what appeared to be an irresistible onset against 
the Swedes opposite him. 

Now the friends and the foes of the shabby, 
undersized Swedish peasants learned the stuff of 
which they were made. Not once, but seven 
times did Pappenheim hurl his cavalry against 
the Swedish columns. Every time they were 
repulsed. Nay more, the seventh attack of the 
“black devils” resulted in their absolute rout. 
They fled, pursued by the left wing of the Swedes. 

When Tilly saw Pappenheim separate himself 
from his army and sweep forward in his first 
reckless attack, the old man threw up his arms in 
despair. “ They have robbed me of my ,honor 
and my glory,” he cried, “and the Emperor of his 
empire and his people.” To second PappenheinTs 


74 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

attack, however, Tilly ordered his cavalry on his 
right wing to charge the Saxons, who were in 
position opposite them, so grand in their brave 
new clothes and their fine looks. 

“The Saxon cavalry, and their artillery men,” 
wrote the King, “held themselves bravely at first, 
but after their best gunners were shot, the rest 
began to fly and left their cannons. The Saxon 
infantry did no better; it ran away by companies 
and spread the report that we were beaten and all 
was lost, which terrified our baggage train, which 
also ran away as far as Duben. . . . The Elec¬ 
tor, who had remained in the rear, ran away with 
his whole life guard and never stopped until he 
got to Eilenburg.” It is said that the Saxons 
lost more men in their flight than the Swedes lost 
in the battle. 

When Tilly saw the Saxons in flight, he thought 
to complete the defeat of his enemy, whom he now 
outnumbered three to one, by attacking the left 
wing of the Swedes in flank, as it had been left 
exposed by the flight of the Saxons. But by the 
time Tilly had brought his troops around, Gus- 
tavus, who had guessed his intention, had wheeled 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


75 


the Swedish left about to face the threatened 
attack, so that instead of being able to strike the 
Swedes on their flank, Tilly found an all new 
battle front awaiting him. 

Meanwhile Gustavus had galloped off to his 
right wing, which had been so gloriously victorious 
over PappenheinTs cavalry, and had sent from 
there several brigades of cavalry right across the 
front of the battle, charging at a furious gallop 
against the flank of Tilly's regiments. Then, 
gathering the rest of the cavalry on the victorious 
right, Gustavus swept with them up the slope 
to the height where were the imperial cannon, 
captured them in the twinkling of an eye, and 
turned them, too, against the flank of Tilly's army. 

Big gaps appeared in the imperial ranks. At 
length their lines began to waver and to break. 
Toward night a stampede set in. Yet though 
thousands fell and thousands fled, nightfall found 
Tilly and six hundred of his veterans still standing 
at bay, at the edge of a little wood whither they 
had retreated. At last they, too, forming a ring 
around their chief who had been thrice wounded, 
bore him away, abandoning the field. 


76 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 



He gave Thanks to God for the Victory. 








GUSTAYUS ADOLPHUS 


77 


As soon as it was certain that the battle was 
won, Gustavus dismounted; and, kneeling on the 
battle-field, he gave thanks to God for the victory; 
and all who were near him joined earnestly in the 
same act. 

“That night,” says the Scotchman, “we en¬ 
camped upon the place of battle, the living merry 
and rejoicing, though without drink, at the night 
wake of their dead comrades and friends lying 
there on the ground in the bed of honor. . . . 
Our bonfires were made of the enemy's ammuni¬ 
tion wagons, and of pikes left for want of good 
fellows to use them. All this night our brave 
comrades, the Saxons, were making use of their 
heels in flying.” 


V 

The “Lion of the North” 

It was a brilliant victory that the King of 
Sweden had won. The Emperor had received 
from his “new little enemy” a crushing blow. 
Gustavus was now the foremost man in Europe. 
His name was on all tongues. “The Snow 


78 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

King” he was called no longer. “The Lion of 
the North and the Bulwark of the Protestant 
Faith” was his popular title henceforth. Not 
only in Germany did his victory hearten the 
Protestants; throughout Europe they were 
inspired. 

The Protestant princes of Germany who had 
before hung back, fearful to take sides with 
Gustavus, now made haste to pay their court to 
him and to press upon him their offers of assistance. 

If his victory brought renewed hope to the 
Protestants, it spread dismay among the Cath¬ 
olics of Germany. Catholic cities hundreds of 
miles from the field of battle kept their walls well 
manned. Fearing that Gustavus might march 
toward Vienna, the Emperor's capital, the Im¬ 
perialists cut down hundreds of great trees in the 
forests to block the way thither. In some of the 
churches they prayed to be “delivered from the 
devil and the Swedes.” 

When Gustavus met John George after the 
battle, the Elector probably expected to be 
severely censured for his cowardly flight or else 
made the victim of numerous pleasantries on the 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


79 


subject. Gustavus, however, with great tact, 
congratulated John George upon the victory 
won and thanked him for having urged an im¬ 
mediate engagement. 

John George, with his vanity thus soothed, was 
ready to suggest putting the crown of the Empire 
upon Gustavus’ head. But not for this had the 
Swedish monarch come into Germany. Though 
the Emperor had received a heavy blow, he was 
not yet willing to grant equal toleration to both 
Protestants and Catholics. Gustavus had yet 
to free the Protestants of southwestern Germany, 
who were crying out to him for deliverance. 

Between him and them lay the richest region of 
Germany, the region where the Catholics possessed 
so many rich bishoprics and monasteries that it 
was called the “ Priests' Alley.” Toward this 
region, Gustavus made his way, with his army 
marching through the Thuringian forest in two 
columns. By night, their way was lighted by 
blazing torches. Even before they reached the 
“Priests’ Alley,” a general flight of priests and 
of friars, bearing all their riches that they could 
carry, had begun. 


80 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Persecution of the Catholics, however, Gus- 
tavus would not allow. “I have come,” he 
announced, “to protect the Protestants from 
further injustice; but all, whatever their faith, 
who obey the law, will be protected from injury.” 
Wherever the Protestants' worship had ever been 
celebrated, it was at once restored, and whatever 
church property had been appropriated from the 
Protestants was restored to them. 

Capturing all important points, and garrisoning 
them strongly, Gustavus proceeded down the 
Main and the Rhine as far as Mains, which he 
captured three days before Christmas. Here 
he decided to spend the winter. The year before 
he had wintered in the midst of perils and pri¬ 
vations. Uncertainty and disappointment were 
his portion. Now, in “the golden city of the 
Rhine,” he could winter in the enjoyment of 
abundance, and in the sunshine of the approval 
of Germany. All the courts of Europe sent 
ambassadors to his court in Mains. The arsenal 
which he had captured supplied great quantities 
of clothing and of ammunition. Food was plenty. 
The poor Swedish peasants had never dreamed of 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


81 


such luxury. They rejoiced in white bread and 
wine, and ate and drank to their hearts’ content. 

VI 

The Crossing of the Lech 

While Gustavus was securing his hold upon the 
Main and the Rhine, Tilly had been collecting a 
new army for the Emperor. The principal Cath¬ 
olic kingdom of Germany was Bavaria, and to 
protect this kingdom, by the following spring, 
Tilly had taken a position on the outskirts of 
Bavaria, a position from which it was deemed 
that he could not be dislodged. The Danube 
River guarded his right flank; the Lech, a small 
stream in summer, but now a swollen torrent, 
from the melting of the winter snows, lay before 
his camp; another small river flowed in his rear; 
and the town of Rain gave protection to his left 
flank. Between his camp and the Lech stretched 
a marshy plain. Along his front, as a further 
protection, the general had caused heavy guus to 
be erected at intervals, with their batteries con¬ 
nected by intrenchments. Most of his army 


82 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

occupied a wooded ravine. Here Tilly expected 
to await in safety the arrival of reenforcements 
before offering battle to Gustavus. 

Meanwhile, Gustavus had crossed the Danube 
above the mouth of the Lech, and had advanced 
to the latter river. The Swedish king, though he 
could be very careful and cautious in his move¬ 
ments, had also the Viking's love of a bold, unex¬ 
pected attack. Having carefully observed the 
enemy's position, he decided that it would be 
possible for him to cross the Lech right in the 
teeth of Tilly's army, and attack him in his 
camp. His generals advised forcing a passing 
farther up the Lech, and then descending upon 
Tilly. But time was precious, for Gustavus 
wished to prevent the union of Tilly’s army with 
the heavy reenforcements he was expecting. To 
the many grave objections raised by his generals, 
Gustavus replied in the words Alexander had 
once used on a similar occasion: “What, have 
we crossed a sea and so many great rivers to be 
stopped now by a mere brook!" The generals 
determined to make the crossing. 

At dawn the King was up making another 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


83 


careful survey of the enemy’s position from the 
opposite bank. As he came near one of Tilly’s 
outposts, Gustavus shouted across to the sentry: 



At Dawn the King was up making Another Survey of the 
Enemy’s Position. 


“Good morning, sir. Where is old Tilly?” 

“Thank you, sir, he is in his quarters at Rain,” 
answered the man. “Where is the King, 
comrade?” 

“Oh, he's in his quarters, too,” answered 
Gustavus. 

“What! You don't mean to say he has any 
quarters, do you ? ” 




84 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

“ Oh, yes, indeed! He has excellent quarters. 
Just come over here and you shall have fine 
quarters,” laughed the King, as he galloped away. 

Gustavus discovered a point where the bank on 
his side of the Lech was higher than the opposite 
side. Here he stationed his artillery. Under the 
protection of his guns, his men began that night to 
throw a pontoon bridge across the river. To 
screen the workers from the enemy's gunners, 
damp straw was kept burning; and under the 
cover of the thick smoke three hundred men were 
sent across to build a bridge head on the opposite 
shore. During the following night the bridge was 
completed and the sending across of the troops 
was begun. 

Tilly had endeavored to stop these proceedings. 
His best troops had issued from the defile, and 
under cover of a wood had sought to pick off the 
workers on the bridge. In the main, however, 
the battle was a contest between the artillery of 
the two armies. A cannon ball at length inflicted 
a mortal wound upon Tilly. Another general 
took his place. Almost instantly he was disabled 
by a ball. Disheartened by the loss of their 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


85 


leaders, and by the galling fire from the Swedish 
guns, the imperial army took refuge in their 
intrenched camp. 

As night was falling and his men were exhausted, 
Gustavus made no attack then; but he remained 
upon the battle-field. The next day, the party he 
sent to reconnoitre found that despite the strength 



A Messenger came to Gustavus from Tilly. 


of their position, the imperial army had abandoned 
their works and had stolen away in the night. 

A messenger came to Gustavus from Tilly, 
asking him to allow the court surgeon of Anspach 





86 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

to come to him, a request Gustavus gladly granted. 
But before the surgeon could reach him, the old 
man, the noblest of the Catholic generals, was 
dead. 


VII 

The Battle of Lutzen 

Just about the time when Gustavus first arrived 
in Germany, Wallenstein, the Duke of Friedland, 
who had been the Emperor's commander-in-chief, 
had been dismissed from his position, because of 
the fear and dislike felt by even the Catholic 
princes of Germany for this upstart noble, whose 
greedy thirst for power threatened their own 
positions. Now, in their extremity, the very ones 
who had sought Wallenstein's removal were 
beseeching the Emperor to secure his aid, for he 
was the only man in Germany who could possibly 
meet Gustavus in battle with any chance of suc¬ 
cess. It was only, however, by the promise of ex¬ 
traordinary privileges and rewards that Ferdinand 
could induce Wallenstein to take the command 
again, so deeply had he resented his removal. 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


87 


A few months after the death of Tilly, Wallen¬ 
stein, with the army he had collected from outlaws 
of all nations, advanced into Saxony. 

Foolish John George was known to be jealous 
of the successes of the Swedish King. The crafty 
Wallenstein thought that he could be brought to 
leave his alliance with Gustavus if he were given 
some sharp medicine. Accordingly Wallenstein 
proceeded to devastate Saxony. 

Gustavus, hearing that his ally had been 
attacked, immediately marched northward to his 
assistance. As he rode through the forests of 
Thuringia, it seemed as if a presentiment of what 
lay before him was present with him, for he talked 
much to Oxensturn, the Chancellor of Sweden, 
his intimate friend, who rode before him, of his 
little daughter Christina who must bear the 
weight of his crown if he should die. He out¬ 
lined for his friend the way the fatherland must 
be governed until Christina was of age. 

Yet though they talked as they travelled, 
Wallenstein was amazed at the swiftness of their 
approach. "The Swedes came as if they had 
flown.” 


88 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


At Erfurt, the people welcomed Gustavus with 
cries of joy and triumph. “Think not of me,” he 
said, as they thronged about him, “think not of 
me, for I am nothing but a weak and dying man. 
Think only of the cause.” 

When he came to Naumberg, the inhabitants 
threw themselves upon their knees before him as 
their deliverer. “Ah,” said the King to them, 
“now you honor me as if I were a god, and God 
will surely punish me for receiving such adoration. 
Yet I hope that He, who knows that I take no 
delight in such honor, will not suffer my work to 
fail, whatever becomes of me.” 

Wallenstein encamped some ten miles from 
Naumberg. Not thinking that Gustavus would 
attack him that winter, for it was bitter cold 
though only November, he allowed Pappenheim 
to leave the main army with eight thousand 
troops to carry on operations elsewhere. Wallen¬ 
stein himself withdrew toward Liitzen, leaving 
five thousand men to watch the Swedes. 

Scarcely two days after Pappenheim had left 
him, Wallenstein was astonished to hear three 
cannon shots, the signal which was to be given by 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


89 


the troops he had left behind, in case the Swedes 
advanced. In frantic haste he sent after Pappen- 
heim a messenger bearing a note which read: 
" The enemy is advancing. Sir, let everything else 
be, and hurry all your forces and artillery back to 
me. You must be here by to-morrow morning." 

If daylight could have lasted two hours longer, 
Gustavus would have taken the enemy the very 
day of his advance from Naumberg, for Wallen¬ 
stein's forces were so scattered that it was late at 
night before he could get his regiments together. 
The distance Gustavus was obliged to traverse 
was too great, however, for him to reach more 
than the outposts before night fell. The two 
armies spent the bitter winter night facing each 
other, "every regiment lying down in the same 
order that they had marched, with their arms 
with them." 

"The Bride never longed' for the wedding 
morning as the king longed for the day to break." 
Two hours before daylight his drums beat. 
Prayers were read at the head of each regiment, 
and as they stood to their arms, the men sang 
Luther's hymn, "A mighty fortress is our God." 


90 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


A thick mist prevented the King from making 
the attack as early as he had planned, but when 
about ten o'clock the mist began to lift, after 
making a brief speech to his soldiers, he led the 
attack, waving his sword above his head and 
crying, “Forward in God's name." 

For more than nine hours the battle raged 
wildly and fiercely upon the plains of Liitzen. 
A little after noon Pappenheim arrived with the 
foremost of his cuirassiers. “Where is the King 
commanding?" demanded the fiery officer as he 
galloped on to the field. But before he met Gus- 
tavus, Pappenheim had fallen, mortally wounded. 

Meanwhile, word came to Gustavus that one 
part of his line was wavering. Putting himself 
at the head of one of his choicest cavalry squad¬ 
rons, he galloped off to its succor. Always 
Gustavus exposed himself without any considera¬ 
tion of his personal danger. Now, he was at the 
head of his men, and he galloped so fast that, 
with only a German noble and his page, he was 
shut out from the view of his troops by a descend¬ 
ing wreath of mist. So, too, he was hidden from 
some advancing horsemen of the enemy. A 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


91 


pistol shot struck the great white horse he rode. 
Another shot crippled the King’s bridle arm. His 
horse began to plunge. The King felt himself 
growing faint. “Cousin,” said he to the noble¬ 
man, “ I am sore hurt; help me from the battle.” 

As they wheeled, a ball hit the King in the back 
and he fell from his horse. The nobleman 
galloped away with his life; but the page, a 
youth of eighteen, remained. 

The horsemen rode up. “Who are you?” 
they asked of the dying King. 

The page would not answer, but Gustavus 
replied, “I am the King of Sweden, who do seal 
with my blood the Religion and the Liberty of 
the German nation.” 

The horsemen thrust their swords again and 
again into the breast of the fallen man, and 
fatally wounded the faithful page. Then, before 
the first of the cavalry squadron which was follow¬ 
ing the King could arrive, they rode away. 

The noble white horse of Gustavus, stained with 
the King’s red blood, was the first to carry the 
news of his master’s death to the Swedish army, 
as he madly galloped, riderless, along the lines. 


92 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

That sight roused the Swedes to the frenzy of 
despairing love. They would avenge their be¬ 
loved leader. Closing up their ranks, they ad¬ 
vanced against the enemy. They recovered the 
body of their King. They swept the imperial 
lines back and were carrying all before them when 
the arrival of the last squadron of PappenheinTs 
cavalry turned the current backward. The 
Saxons, too, had lost a gallant leader, whose 
death they thirsted to avenge. Slowly the Swedes 
were pushed back over the field they had just 
won. Was the battle lost? 

At length the Swedes stood. Their decimated 
ranks closed up. Shoulder to shoulder they 
pushed forward again with a power born of despair. 
There was nowhere any faltering, nowhere any 
gap. In all their brave battles there had been 
no advance like that. The soul of their dead 
hero led them on, on, resistlessly in the misty 
dusk of evening. Nothing could stop them. The 
imperial ranks grappled with them, wavered, 
broke, fled, — everywhere fled. 

The Swedes remained that night upon the field 
of battle. The body of their King was carried 


GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 


93 


to a little village in the rear of their lines, and laid 
before the altar of the small village church. 
Within the church, the band of cavalry which 
had recovered the King's body sat in silence in 
full armor upon their horses, while the village 
schoolmaster read the service for the dead. Then 
the schoolmaster, who was also the carpenter of 
the village, made a rude wooden coffin, in which 
the body was placed and carried the next day 
under military escort to a large town to be em¬ 
balmed. The next summer Sweden received and 
laid to rest in a church in Stockholm the earthly 
remains of her hero King. There, watched over 
by the tattered banners, which recall his many 
victories, his body lies in a marble sarcophagus. 

Thus, in his prime, Gustavus Adolphus died a 
glorious death. But his work was not lost. 
The weary war dragged on, but when at last 
peace was made, Gustavus and his high aims were 
not forgotten, and those precious things for which 
he had given his life were won; for by the peace, 
toleration was secured in Germany for -both 
Catholics and Protestants. 


PETER THE GREAT 
When a Czar became a Boat-builder 


O N a Sunday morning in August, in the 
year 1697, there was a stir of excitement 
and of curiosity in the little Dutch town of 
Zaandam. Word passed from lip to lip that early 
in the morning, when most of the townspeople 
were still asleep in their beds, some mysterious 
strangers had arrived in the town. The few 
early risers who had been fortunate enough to 
catch a glimpse of the strangers were plied with 
questions by their curious neighbors. One group 
of people, constantly growing larger, was gathered 
before the Otter Inn, where the visitors were said 
to have taken lodgings. The centre of this group 
was an honest Dutchman who, fishing peacefully 
in the early morning, had seen the strangers 
sailing by him. 

Of him his neighbors were asking for the 
twentieth time, “How did they look?” 

94 


PETER THE GREAT 


95 


For the twentieth time he answered: “Like no 
men I have ever seen. They were uncommonly 
tall and dark skinned and most of them had great 
black beards/' 

“What did they wear?" 

“Outlandish clothes," was the answer. 
“Nearly all of them wore gowns that reached 
to their ankles." 

“How many of them were there?" 

“A dozen." Then, unsolicited, the Dutchman 
ventured a further bit of information. “Gerrit 
Gist had speech with them." 

“What! How's that?" 

“Well, you see Gerrit was fishing on the river, 
too, and I was not so far away but that I could 
see what happened. Along came these foreigners, 
and one of them, a young man, stood up in the 
boat and shouted to Gerrit. The young man 
was a giant. He had no beard, and he was so 
dark you'd think he was born in Africa. They 
stopped and talked with Gerrit a good bit. It 
appeared to me Gerrit knew them." 

“I'll stake my life they are Russians, then," 
exclaimed one of the group. “Gerrit most likely 


96 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


knew them those years he was in Russia. He has 
told me many a time that the men of that country 
wear gowns that reach to the ground.” 

“There they are now! There they are now!” 
whispered the people, excitedly; and for a few 
moments their eyes were too busy gazing to allow 
their tongues to gossip. On the steps of the inn 
had appeared the very men whom they had been 
discussing. Now, however, the swarthy-skinned, 
black-haired foreigners were no longer clad in 
their “outlandish clothes” which “reached to 
their ankles.” Instead they wore the dress most 
familiar to the men of Zaandam, the red waist¬ 
coat with big buttons, the wide breeches, the short 
jacket, and the wide tarpaulin hat which was the 
customary dress of the Dutch boatmen. The 
worthy citizens of Zaandam gazed open-mouthed, 
while the strangers cast curious glances at them 
and up and down the street. The fisherman who 
had seen the visitors early in the day was the 
first to find his tongue. 

“It was he who spoke to Gerrit,” he volunteered 
importantly, indicating with his forefinger a 
broad-shouldered young man nearly seven feet 


PETER THE GREAT 


97 


in height, who was the centre of the group on the 
inn steps. Even before the Dutchman spoke 
all eyes had been focussed upon this young man. 
His open countenance and piercing black eyes 
suggested a keen and restless intellect. In his 
bearing was something haughty and imperious. 

After a comprehensive glance about, the young 
man and his comrades passed down the street, 
the Dutchman following at their heels. It was 
Sunday, and what else was there to do but to 
see those strange visitors, the like of whom had 
never before been seen in the streets of Zaandam ? 
The throng of citizens in the wake of the strangers 
kept growing, while the windows were full of 
curious faces. The watchers observed that, as 
the young giant talked to his comrades, he fre¬ 
quently made queer grimaces and threw out his 
right arm in strange gesticulations. 

Now a strange rumor was tossed about. "The 
Czar of Muscovy is one of those men.” 

"The Czar of Muscovy! Impossible!” each 
exclaimed as the rumor reached him, yet still the 
rumor spread. Well might they be incredulous, for 
in more than six hundred years no Czar of Russia 


98 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


had ever been seen outside his kingdom. To 
the people of Zaandam, indeed, the Czar of all 
the Russias was a being remote and mysterious. 

At length, to the oft-repeated question, “What 
are they here for?” another rumor suggested an 
answer. “They have come to learn how to 
build ships.” 

“Did Gerrit Gist say so?” asked one. 

“No,” was the reply. “Gerrit still fishes in 
the river and will tell nought save that he admits 
that the men are Russians and that he was ac¬ 
quainted with them when he was in Moscow.” 

Meanwhile the mysterious visitors were fanning 
to white heat the flames of curiosity they had 
kindled in quiet Zaandam by their eccentric 
behavior. Led by the young giant, they not 
only went into all the shipyards and the churches, 
but even entered unceremoniously into private 
dwellings and gazed about, to the great astonish¬ 
ment of the householders. 

One hut in the poorer section of the town, 
where the artisans dwelt, especially pleased the 
young Russian we have noticed. “This I will 
have,” he said. As he smiled with satisfaction, 


PETER THE GREAT 


99 


who should enter but Gerrit Gist whose home it 
chanced to be! 

“ Yes, the house is yours,” replied Gerrit, as the 
Russian repeated his exclamation, “but first it must 
be made ready. To-morrow you shall have it.” 



“Keep well our Secret.” 

Then saying to Gerrit, “ Keep well our secret,” 
the Russians passed on. 

At length they came into the shop of the barber, 
Pomp. Now a certain man of Zaandam had a 
son then living in Moscow, from whom he had 
received but lately a letter; this letter Pomp had 







100 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


chanced to see. It told of a great embassy that 
had left Russia to visit the leading countries of 
Europe. It further declared that Peter, the Czar 
of Russia, was with the embassy, though he 
travelled as a private gentleman. “He may 
even come to Zaandam,” the letter said, “and 
you can easily recognize the Czar for he is 'tall 
with a face that twitches, a right arm that is 
never quiet and a mole on one cheek/ ” 

When, then, the strangers entered his shop, 
Pomp quickly identified the young giant as the 
one described in the letter. Even the mole was 
there. As soon as the Russians departed, Pomp 
spread the news about. 

Naturally, every inhabitant of Zaandam wished 
to see the Czar of Russia, and the crowd of curious 
Dutchmen grew to such proportions that it was 
too embarrassing to the visitors. The hot blood 
mounted to the brow of the young giant as the 
people dodged his footsteps. “ Too many people,” 
he exclaimed. “Too many people!” And with¬ 
out more ado he took refuge in the Otter Inn, 
nor would he be persuaded to appear in public 
again that day. 


PETER THE GREAT 


101 


Nevertheless, bright and early the next morning, 
he registered as a ship-carpenter at the wharf of 
one of the chief ship-builders of the town, under 
the name of Peter Mihailof. The seal used by 
Peter represented a young carpenter with his 
shipwright's tools about him, with the inscrip¬ 
tion, “My rank is that of a scholar, and I need 
masters." 

How did it happen that the Czar of all the 
Russias had come to quiet Zaandam to become a 
pupil in the art of ship-building? 

Even in his childhood Peter had been interested 
in foreigners. The foreign quarter of Moscow 
was the part of the city where he best liked to 
spend his time. The bitter prejudice against 
foreigners which his people cherished was utterly 
lacking in him. He early discovered that Euro¬ 
peans could teach him many things about which 
the Russians knew nothing. Above all, he found 
that they, alone, could teach him the art of ship¬ 
building. 

From a day in his childhood when he discovered 
in an old shed where rubbish was stored the 
half-rotten hulk of an English boat which had 


102 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

belonged to a great uncle of his, ship-building had 
been his most absorbing interest. It was a 
Dutchman who told him the use of the old hulk 
and who likewise told him the astonishing fact 
that it could be furnished with sails that would 
make it possible for it to sail against the wind. 
It was a Dutchman who, after he had calked the 
hulk and had fitted it with a mast and sails, 
sailed up and down on a neighboring pond, turning 
it this way and that, to Peter's immense delight 
and excitement, and who had then taught the 
boy how to manage the craft. 

With reason, this old boat is called the Grand¬ 
father of the Russian Navy, for from its discovery 
dated Peter's passionate interest in ship-building 
and his determination to build for Russia a navy, 
and to win for her outlets upon the great seas 
whereon her ships might sail; for when Peter 
was a boy, Russia had no outlet by sea except at 
the frozen north. 

As Peter grew older, he sent men to foreign 
countries to learn the art of ship-building. Not 
satisfied with this, he determined to go himself. 
It had chanced that of the carpenters he had 


PETER THE GREAT 


103 


employed in Russia the most had been natives 
of Zaandam. For this reason, the young Czar 
resolved that Zaandam was the place where he 
would go to learn the art he loved. 

It would be irksome to travel as the ruler of a 
great kingdom, so Peter decided to travel in dis¬ 
guise. A great embassy left Russia to visit the 
countries of Europe to make treaties of friendship. 
One of the men in the train of the ambassadors 
was a certain Peter Mihailof. When the em¬ 
bassy arrived in Amsterdam, Peter, without 
stopping, hurried on with a few friends to Zaan¬ 
dam. We have seen how quickly the secret of 
his identity was guessed in that quiet little town. 

Though the Czar so promptly entered himself 
as a ship-carpenter, it is doubtful if he learned 
much of the craft in Zaandam, for he remained 
there only a week; and during that time he 
was very much occupied with other things. 

Having established himself in the humble hut 
of Gerrit Gist, Peter bought himself a small 
yacht. With his own hands, he fitted this with 
a mast and sails and forthwith he spent much 
of his time in sailing about. He visited, too, all 


104 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


the mills and factories in the neighborhood, 
studying especially the construction of the wind¬ 
mills which furnished the power for sawing the 
lumber for the ships. 

Meanwhile Peter was disappointed in finding 
that the boats built in Zaandam were all small 
merchant vessels. Now, too, he learned that in 
Amsterdam the ship-building was of far better 
quality and importance. Besides, he was greatly 
annoyed by the furor of curiosity which his 
presence aroused in the quiet village. When a 
rumor of his presence in the little town reached 
Amsterdam, crowds of people flocked from that 
city to Zaandam to get a glimpse of him. Their 
attentions frequently roused the young giant to 
wrath. 

One day, having bought a hatful of plums in 
the market place, he was strolling along eating 
them when he came upon a crowd of boys. With 
some of the youngsters Peter shared his plums 
while he taunted those to whom he had given 
none. It was too much for boy nature to stand; 
forthwith they took up stones and mud and 
threw them at Peter. Then the young giant 


PETER THE GREAT 


105 


forgot the part he was to play and shouted in his 
wrath, “ I am the Czar of Russia! I am the Czar 
of Russia!” But the boys had no notion of 
stopping their mud throwing because a dark- 
skinned giant in a Dutch sailor costume loudly 
proclaimed his rank to them. Indeed, as Peter 
was very angry and excited, it is quite likely that 
he shouted in Russian, a language which the boys 
understood not at all. At any rate he was 
obliged to take refuge in the nearest inn. From 
there he sent for the Burgomaster of the town, to 
whom he must have admitted some important 
facts about himself; for, after their conversation 
together, the Burgomaster gave orders to the 
townspeople that no insults were to be offered 
to any distinguished personage in the town who 
wished to remain unknown. 

Yet still the people thronged about him. When 
he sailed in his yacht, they lined the banks or 
sailed as near him as possible to watch him. At 
length, in a rage, Peter leaped ashore and cuffed 
soundly one of the spectators, to the immense 
delight of the other onlookers, who shouted, 
“ Bravo! Bravo! Marsje, you are made a knight.” 


106 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

Peter sulked off to his cottage and shut himself 
in. 

On Sunday it seemed as if all Amsterdam had 
come to the town to see him. Peter refused to 
leave his house, except, finally, to hurry to his 
yacht. A storm was raging, and he was warned of 
the danger, but better shipwreck than the gaping, 
curious crowd, thought he, so he set sail and three 
hours later arrived in Amsterdam. 

Having made the acquaintance of the Burgo¬ 
master of Amsterdam, Peter requested him to 
obtain permission from the East India Company 
for him to be admitted to that company's ship¬ 
building yards so that he might work undisturbed 
by public curiosity. This permission the com¬ 
pany readily granted; and as a token of respect 
they began immediately the building of a frigate 
so that the Czar might see the whole process 
from beginning to end. 

Now Peter's serious work began. The company 
assigned him a small house within the yards so 
that he might live entirely in peace. Here the 
Czar of Russia cooked his own meals, made his 
own bed, and mended his own clothes. He 


PETER THE GREAT 


107 


dressed in the same fashion as the Dutch car¬ 
penters and insisted upon being treated exactly 
the same as they were. If he were addressed 
as “Sire” or “Your Majesty,” Peter was stone 
deaf, but if he was addressed as “Master Peter ” 
or “Carpenter Peter of Zaandam,” he was quite 
ready to sit and chat during his leisure moments. 

One day two noblemen visited the yards, hoping 
to see the Czar. To point him out, the master 
carpenter called, “Carpenter Peter of Zaansdam, 
why don't you help your fellows?” Without a 
word, Peter put his shoulder under the timber 
some of the men were lifting, and hoisted it with 
them to its proper place. 

In his hours of recreation, the young monarch 
found time to do many things. Besides spending 
hours over the study of geometry, he visited 
shops, theatres, hospitals, museums, and factories. 
People soon came to recognize him by his oft- 
repeated eager exclamations, “What is that?” 
“How does it work?” “That I must see.” One 
day he nearly lost an arm by suddenly stopping a 
sawmill; at another time he barely escaped losing 
his life by seizing the driving wheel in a silk factory. 


108 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


His curiosity was insatiable. He discussed archi¬ 
tecture with a famous architect; he studied 
drawing and learned to engrave on copper; he 
learned to cobble well enough to make himself a 
pair of shoes; he learned to use the compass 
and the sword as well as the plane, and he even 
took lessons of a travelling dentist whom he came 
across in one of the public squares. Thereafter 
it was a sure way to Peter's favor to ask him to 
extract a tooth. 

To second him in his self-appointed task of 
opening the windows of Russia toward Europe, 
the Czar collected a corps of men, naval officers, 
physicians, gunsmiths, engineers, miners, and 
even four cooks. He found time to gather and 
despatch to Moscow no less than two hundred 
and sixty cases of the supplies that these men 
would need in their work. Indeed he did a 
prodigious amount of labor in the four months 
he spent in Holland. Meanwhile, he did not 
neglect the beer shops in the evenings, and he 
became intimately acquainted with the Dutch 
home life. Peter took a few days from his work 
to go to the Hague to witness the festivities when 


PETER THE GREAT 


109 


his embassy was received there in royal state. 
On the road thither, Peter stopped his carriage 
no less than twenty times. Once it was to 
measure the width of a bridge; again it was to 
visit a mill, to reach which it was necessary for 
him to cross a meadow where the water reached 
often to his knees. 

When he reached the Hague and was shown to 
the fine apartment reserved for him in the best 
hotel in the city, he would none of it. Instead 
he climbed to the tiny chambers under the roof. 
Even here he found nothing to suit him. Leaving 
the hotel, he went to a modest inn, where he found 
a servant of his already asleep on a bearskin in 
the corner. “Give me thy place,” said Peter, 
rousing the man to his feet with a kick. 

Just as he was ill at ease in elegant surroundings, 
so, too, he was shy and embarrassed when he came 
into contact with people more refined and civilized 
than himself. Though this young giant of twenty- 
five was still in many respects a barbarian, his 
intelligence was too keen to permit him 'to be 
unconscious of his lack. Peter refused to be 
present at the reception of his embassy, but he 



Give me thy place,” said Peter. 





















PETER THE GREAT 


111 


watched it from an adjoining room. During the 
progress of the affair, some people came into the 
apartment where he was. Immediately Peter 
wished to leave the room, but when he learned 
that in order to do so he must pass through the 
room where the dignitaries were assembled, he 
requested that they all should turn their backs 
as he passed through. 

Manifestly, Peter was more at ease in the ship¬ 
yards of the East India Company than in assem¬ 
blies of dignitaries. Thither he returned and 
continued to toil there until the frigate in whose 
entire construction he had shared was completed 
and launched, and Peter Mihailof received from 
his master a certificate bearing witness to his 
progress. 

While Peter was in Holland, an Englishman had 
boasted to him that, in certain respects, the 
English surpassed the Dutch in their knowledge 
of ship-building. As the young monarch was not 
fully satisfied with what he had learned in Am¬ 
sterdam, he was eager to prove the truth of 
the Englishman's boast. Moreover, the Czar ad¬ 
mired William III, the King of England, and 


112 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


that monarch had but lately shown his good-will 
toward the young Czar by sending him as a gift 
his own finest yacht, a new ship of perfect con¬ 
struction, armed with twenty brass cannon. No 
other gift could have given Peter greater pleasure. 

The envoy he sent to convey his thanks to 
William bore also a request that Peter might be 
allowed to visit England and to study the English 
ship-building. The response of the English mon¬ 
arch was most cordial, and ships were sent to 
convey the Russian to England. Soon all London 
was agog to see the wonderful young man who, 
though ruler over the widest domain at that time 
under the sway of one man, had come to them as 
a learner. Peter, however, was as shy as ever, 
and the King humored his wish to avoid public 
functions by coming to call upon him privately. 

The Czar received the King in his shirt sleeves, 
in the small room he had selected as his bedroom. 
In this room slept also four or five other Russians. 
The air was so villainous that the King nearly 
fainted when he entered, and all the windows had 
to be thrown open though the day was bitter 
cold. When Peter returned the King's call, he 


PETER THE GREAT 


113 



entered the royal palace by a back door. It was 
noticed that the Czar paid no attention to the 
beautiful paintings the palace contained, but he 
was most en¬ 


thusiastic over a 
clever contriv¬ 
ance for show¬ 
ing which way 
the wind blew. 

After spend¬ 
ing some time in 
seeing the sights 
of London, Peter 
settled down in 
Deptford, a vil¬ 
lage then on the 
outskirts of the 

. He entered the Royal Palace by a 

city, where he back door. 

put in six weeks 

of hard work in the ship-yards. He walked the 
streets in sailor costume, with his hatchet over his 
shoulder and a small Dutch pipe in his mouth. 

The tavern where he smoked and drank his 
beer was long known as the “ Czar's Tavern,” 





114 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


and the street leading to the house where he 
lived is called “Czar’s Lane” to this day. The 
house he occupied had been hired for his use by 
King William of John Evelyn, an English gentle¬ 
man. Mr. Evelyn found cause to complain 
bitterly of his uncouth tenants. The beautiful 
holly hedge, of which he was so proud, was com¬ 
pletely ruined by Peter, who amused himself by 
pushing through it a wheelbarrow. Nor did the 
house fare better. Mr. Evelyn's servant wrote 
to his master: “There is a house full of people 
and right nasty. The King is expected here 
to-day. The best parlor is pretty clean for him 
to be entertained in.” Of the visit the servant 
wrote: “ The Czar had a favorite monkey which 
sat down upon the back of his chair. As soon 
as the King was set down, the monkey jumped 
upon him in some wrath, which discomposed the 
whole ceremonial.” 

As in Holland, though naval affairs were his 
most absorbing interest, his activities extended 
in countless other directions. He was present at 
a meeting of Parliament when King William gave 
his assent to a land tax. Peter was so anxious 



*PETER THE GREAT 115 

to avoid having his presence known that he 
watched the proceedings through a hole in the 
ceiling, whereat some one said, “I have seen the 


He watched the Proceedings through a Hole in the Ceiling. 

rarest thing in the world, a King on the throne, 
and an Emperor on the roof.” 

It is reported that Peter, having heard the 
debate, remarked, "It is pleasant to hear how 
the sons of the fatherland tell the truth plainly 
to the King; we must learn that from the 
English.” 

In his farewell interview with the King, Peter 










116 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


drew from his pocket and handed to the King a 
small twisted piece of soiled brown paper. The 
King, wondering, opened it to find a magnificent 
uncut diamond of great size. Thus Czar Peter 
expressed his gratitude for the splendid yacht the 
King had given him and for the kindly reception 
he had met in England. 

From England Peter planned to go to Venice 
to learn the construction of the galley, the ship 
that was much used on the Mediterranean. He 
had even started on his way there when affairs in 
Russia made necessary his return to his kingdom. 

Accordingly, Czar Peter returned to his people, 
and devoted his life to the task he had appointed 
himself, — the task of expanding Russia and of 
introducing European civilization into his empire. 
In later years, when his achievements had made 
his name known and even feared throughout 
Europe, he made other journeys into Europe, but 
of them all not one had such momentous results 
for Russia as that first journey when he visited 
the advanced countries of western Europe, a 
pupil with his motto, "My rank is that of a scholar, 
and I need masters.” 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 
I 

Childhood and Youth 


I N the shade cast by the Kaaba, the holy 
temple of the Arabs in Mecca, an aged 
chief reclined upon a rug. His hoary head and 
beard, and his majestic though benign appear- 



An Aged Chief reclined upon a Rug. 


ance, seemed cause enough for the reverent greet¬ 
ings bestowed upon him by all who passed by. 
117 



118 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


About his carpet, at a respectful distance, his 
sons sat in silence. Suddenly a childish shout of 
greeting broke the stillness, and a black-eyed 
boy of about five years of age darted into the 
group. The little one seemed to regard the rug 
on which the aged chief lay as specially designed 
for himself, and straightway curled himself up 
on it without so much as asking leave, prattling 
the while to the old man. 

The sons of the patriarch, disturbed by the 
unceremonious behavior of the child, tried to 
drive him away, but the old man stopped them. 

“Let my little son alone,” he said. “Let my 
little son alone.” 

The little one nestled close to the old man, who 
stroked him lovingly, listened with delight to his 
childish talk, and made no sign of displeasure, 
even when the child’s fingers played with his 
long white beard. 

Now the aged patriarch was Abd al Muttalib, 
Chief of the House of Hashim, leading man of 
Mecca, and guardian of the Kaaba and its sacred 
worship. He it was that gave food and drink 
to all pilgrims who came to Mecca. And the 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


119 


child whom he loved was Mahomet, his orphan 
grandson. 

The old man sighed as he thought of the boy's 
father, Abdallah, fairest and noblest of all Arab 
youths, his own best beloved son, who died 
before ever Mahomet could call him father. 

As the child prattled on, Abd al Muttalib be¬ 
thought him of all that had happened since 
Abdallah's death. There were the years when 
the child had been away from Mecca in the care 
of a woman of a Bedouin tribe of Arabs in the 
desert. This was wise, for the air of Mecca was 
bad for children, but the air of the desert was 
pure and life-giving. Yes, it was wise for the 
child to grow strong in the desert, but his mother, 
Amina, had missed her little one sorely. When 
he came back to her, handsome and well, how 
proud she was! She must show him to all her 
family. Hence came the ill-fated journey to 
Medina, where dwelt some of her kin and where, 
too, was Abdallah's grave. 

He recalled the day when on their two camels 
they set forth from Mecca, Amina, Mahomet, 
and their slave girl Omm Ayman. 



One Day Omm Ayman and the Little Mahomet appeared at 
Abd al Muttalib’s Door. 









MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


121 


All went well until the homeward journey, 
when Amina sickened and died. One day Omm 
Ayman and the little Mahomet, now an orphan, 
had appeared at Abd al Muttalib’s door, travel- 
worn and weeping. He welcomed them into his 
home; and ever since he had cherished the 
child with the tenderest love. 

Mahomet was still under the care of his nurse, 
but often he would run away from her to seek 
his grandfather. It mattered not whether the 
old man was asleep or awake, alone or attended 
by a crowd, ,the child went to him fearlessly and 
never was repulsed. 

Of all this the old man mused as they rested 
together in the shade of the Kaaba, watched over 
by the idols. After a time the child’s voice died 
away and he slept; soon the old man, too, was 
sleeping, and all who passed by were careful not 
to waken them. 

For only two years was Mahomet watched over 
by Abd al Muttalib, however, for at the age of 
fourscore and two the old man died. The child 
followed his bier weeping and grieved bitterly 
over the loss of his grandfather. The death of 


122 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

his kindly guardian following so closely upon that 
of his loved mother tended to make him pensive 
and thoughtful. 

On his deathbed, Abd al Muttalib had consigned 
the child to the care of his son, Abu Talib, who, 
though poor, was a man of noble character. 
Faithfully he fulfilled the trust thus confided to 
him. Indeed, the uncle's love of the child equalled 
that of the grandfather. Whenever Abu Talib 
walked abroad, he took Mahomet with him; he 
made him eat at his table, and sleep by his bed. 
Indeed there was something unusually appealing 
about this deeply affectionate and beautiful 
child. 

When Mahomet was twelve years of age, Abu 
Talib planned to go to Syria with a caravan of 
merchandise. He intended to leave Mahomet at 
home, for the boy was now old enough to take 
care of himself. But when the caravan was 
ready to depart, and Abu Talib was about to 
mount his camel, Mahomet clung to him sobbing, 
quite overcome by the prospect of such a long 
separation from his loved guardian. Abu Talib 
was so touched by the child's grief, that he placed 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


123 


him on his own camel, and cared for him through¬ 
out the expedition which lasted several months. 

As Mahomet grew older, he was sometimes 
sent, like other lads, to tend the sheep and goats ' 
upon the hills and in the valleys about Mecca. 
Mahomet liked this task, for the silence and 
solitude gave him opportunity to meditate upon 
the many questions which were beginning to fill 
his mind. 

In the loneliness of the desert, there were 
many signs of an unseen Power. There were 
the sweet blackberries that gave zest to his 
frugal meals; there were the sparkling stars that 
blazed in the clear night sky; there were the 
wild thunderstorms that swept in awful grandeur 
through the great solitudes. All spoke to him 
eloquently of an ever present Being. 

But when he returned to Mecca, there were the 
three hundred and sixty idols ranged about the 
Kaaba. There was the great idol Hobal within 
the sacred shrine. Every year he saw thousands 
of pilgrims come thither in the sacred months to 
worship these idols and to kiss the Black Stone 
which was placed in one corner of the Kaaba, — 


124 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

the mysterious Black Stone which the angel 
Gabriel had brought down from heaven. It was 
white, said tradition, when Gabriel first brought 
it to men, but the kisses of so many sinful men 
had turned it black. Some vague knowledge of 
the Jews and of the Christians had also come to 
Mahomet. No wonder, then, that he asked: 
“What is the true God? What is truth?” 

When Mahomet was twenty-five years of age, 
he entered the service of Khadijah, a wealthy 
widow much older than himself. She was so 
captivated by his noble appearance and charming 
manners that love took possession of her heart; 
and though she had refused many wealthy and 
honorable suitors, she offered her hand to the 
penniless Mahomet. Despite the difference in 
their ages, the marriage which followed was a 
very happy one. 

II 

The Call 

As Mahomet grew older, the questionings of 
his mind grew more and more troubled. It 
burdened his soul to see his people sunk in super- 



MAHOMET THE PROPHET 125 

stition, idolatry, and vice. Thus weighed down, 
he often left Mecca and wandered in the desert 
region thereabout, seeking relief in silent medita¬ 
tion. His favorite retreat was a cave on Mount 
Hira. All about was bleak and rugged; there 


was not a green spot in sight. There he would 
often remain for days at a time. Sometimes his 
faithful wife attended him, and sought to relieve 
the trouble of his mind by her loving sympathy. 

Light struggled with darkness in his soul. At last 
truth burst upon him. It happened in this way. 


His Favorite Retreat was a Gave on Mount Hira. 






126 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

As he lay on the ground of the cave, one day, 
in great distress of mind, a heavenly light flooded 
the place, and framed in the light he beheld a 
glorious angel in human form, holding out to 
Mahomet a shining roll. 

“Read,” said the Angel. 

“I cannot read,” replied Mahomet. 

“Read,” repeated the Angel. 

Again Mahomet answered, “I cannot read.” 

“Read,” said the Angel. “In the name of 
the Lord who created man, in the name of the 
Most High who taught man the use of the pen, 
and teaches him what before he knew not.” 

Upon this Mahomet read the decrees of God 
which later he gave forth in the Koran. 

Then Mahomet was fearful lest the vision was 
sent by the Devil, but the Angel banished the 
doubt, saying: 

“0 Mahomet, of a truth thou art the prophet 
of God and I am his angel Gabriel!” 

Then the vision disappeared; and Mahomet 
hastened home, pallid and trembling, and told 
Khadijah all that had happened. 

“0 Khadijah,” he exclaimed, “I have always 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 127 

hated and despised both idols and soothsayers, 
and now verily I fear that I shall become a sooth¬ 
sayer myself.” 

“Fear not,” Khadijah answered him. “Glad 
tidings thou dost bring. Henceforth I will re¬ 
gard thee as the Prophet of our nation. God 
will not suffer thee to come to shame, for thou 
hast ever been loving to thy kinsfolk, charitable 
to the poor, faithful to thy word, and a defender 
of the truth.” 

“So Khadijah believed,” runs the ancient 
tradition, “and attested the truth of that which 
came to him from God. Thus was the Lord 
minded to lighten the burden of his Prophet; 
for he heard nothing that grieved him touching 
his rejection by the people, but he had recourse 
unto her, and she comforted, reassured, and 
supported him.” 

Ill 

The Years of Persecution 

Accepting his mission, Mahomet began to teach: 
“There is no God but the God, and Mahomet is 
His Prophet.” This was the simple creed of the 
new faith he taught. 


128 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

A little knot of faithful followers soon joined 
themselves to him, among them his lifelong 
devoted friend, Abu Bekr. But while a few 
believed, most people scoffed. As he passed by 
the groups of people who were wont to gather 
near the Kaaba to talk over the events of the 
day, they would point at him in disdainful scorn. 
“Behold the dreamer!” some would say, or 
“ There goeth the fellow from among the children 
of Abd al Muttalib to speak unto the people 
about the Heavens.” Still others declared that 
he was in league with evil spirits. Even his 
kind and generous uncle, Abu Talib, smiled at 
his nephew's enthusiasm. 

As the number of Mahomet's converts increased 
and there were added to them some influential 
citizens, the disdain of the Coreish, or nobility of 
Mecca, changed to alarm and even to open hos¬ 
tility. They resolved that this fellow who abused 
their idols and who said that their ancestors were 
in perdition must be stopped. If the idol worship 
should be done away with, a great source of their 
income would be cut off. 

For such reasons, persecution began. They 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


129 


dared not touch Mahomet himself, for Abu 
Talib, though he clung to the worship of the 
idols of the Kaaba, nevertheless declared that 
while he lived nobody should dare to molest his 
nephew. The brunt of the anger of the Coreish 
fell upon the weak and poor followers of Mahomet, 
who had no powerful patron or protector, espe¬ 
cially upon the slaves. 

Some of these were imprisoned; others were 
tied to stakes in the burning desert, exposed to 
the intense glare of the midday sun on the scorch¬ 
ing sand of the valley. The miserable wretches, 
tormented by agonies of thirst, scarcely knew 
what they said. If, under this torture, they 
recanted, acknowledging the idols of Mecca and 
reviling Mahomet, they were revived by draughts 
of water and taken to their homes. 

The slave Bilah alone escaped the shame of 
recantation. His tormentors could ring from 
him even in the depths of his anguish but the one 
confession, “One, One — One — Only one God !” 
Abu Bekr, Mahomet's friend, passing by, saved 
the slave by purchasing his freedom. 

Mahomet showed much pity toward these 


130 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


unhappy sufferers. He even allowed them to 
appear to recant so that they might escape tor¬ 
ment. Chancing to pass by one poor fellow who 
had recanted under torture, and seeing him sob¬ 
bing, Mahomet asked : 

“What ails thee, 0 Ammur?” 

“Evil; 0 Prophet! They would not let me 
go until I had abused thee, and spoken well of 
their gods.” 

“ But how dost thou find thine own heart? ” 

“ Secure and steadfast in the faith.” 

“Then,” replied Mahomet, “if they repeat 
their cruelty, repeat thou also thy words.” 

To escape persecution, Mahomet urged such as 
had no protector to seek refuge in a foreign land. 
It happened that more than a hundred departed 
to Abyssinia, where they were kindly received 
by the Christian king of that land. 

The departure of these converts only increased 
the wrath of the Coreish. They sent a committee of 
elders to Abu Talib, asking him either to suppress 
Mahomet himself or to hand him over to them. 

Abu Talib answered them gently and courte¬ 
ously, yet sent them away without granting 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


131 


their request. Again they came to him, as their 
anger waxed ever hotter, saying : 

“As we have told thee before, this nephew of 
thine speaketh slightingly of our gods and hath 
unbraided us as fools. And now verily we cannot 
any longer have patience with his abuse of us, 
our ancestors, and our gods. Now therefore 
either restrain him, or our quarrel shall be against 
thee as well as against him.” 

Having thus spoken, they departed. 

It seemed a grievous thing to Abu Talib, who 
was now an aged man, to be at enmity with the 
men of Mecca, yet at the same time he could not 
bear to surrender Mahomet to their will. Being 
thus troubled in mind, he sent for Mahomet and 
told him of the saying of the Coreish. “ And now,” 
said he, earnestly, “ save thyself and me also. Cast 
not upon me a burden heavier than I can bear.” 

Mahomet was alarmed, for he thought that his 
uncle had resolved to abandon him. But his 
courage did not fail. 

“If they should bring the sun on my right hand 
and the moon on my left to force me from my 
undertaking, verily I would not renounce my 


132 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


purpose so long as God commanded me to go on, 
even if I were to perish in the attempt.” 

Yet the thought of being deserted by the man 
who had been his kind protector from childhood 
overcame him, and he burst into tears as he turned 
to depart. The aged chief was also moved. 

“Son of my brother,” he cried, “come back. 
And now depart in peace and say whatsoever 
thou wilt. For, by the Lord of the Kaaba, I 
will in no wise give thee up forever.” 

Then all the Coreish who were not of the 
House of Hashim made a vow that they would sell 
nothing to those of the House of Hashim nor buy 
anything from them, nor have any dealings what¬ 
soever with them. Their vows were written upon 
a piece of parchment and hung up in the Kaaba. 

Then Mahomet and his followers and all the 
members of the Tribe of Hashim, save Abu Lahab 
who hated the new religion, withdrew to the 
Quarter of Abu Talib. There they were block¬ 
aded for two or three years. Only in the sacred 
months, when according to the law of the Arabs 
all feuds are in abeyance and war is forbidden, 
did they dare to venture forth. 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


133 


Yet many of the citizens when they heard the 
crying of hungry children within the besieged 
quarter were moved to pity and now and then 
corn and provisions were smuggled into the 
Quarter of Abu Talib at night by relatives of the 
House of Hashim. Yet even so there was great 
want and suffering among those thus isolated. 

Now when two or three years had passed, one 
who was friendly to Mahomet brought word to 
Abu Talib that ants had destroyed the parch¬ 
ment on which the vow of the Coreish had been 
written. 

Then the venerable chief marched forth to the 
Kaaba with a band of followers. Thus spake he 
to the men assembled there: 

“ Knowledge has come to me that the parch¬ 
ment whereon the Coreish wrote their vows 
against the House of Hashim has been eaten by 
ants. If this be true, cease your evil designs 
against us; if false, I will deliver my brother's 
son to you." 

The company, incredulous, agreed that it 
should be as Abu Talib had said, and straightway 
the parchment was brought forth. Then were 


134 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

the Coreish in confusion of mind, for in truth the 
parchment had been so destroyed by white ants 
that not a word of it could be read. 

Then Abu Talib upbraided the Coreish for 
their hardness of heart, and advancing to the 
Kaaba, he withdrew behind the curtain which 
covered the house and prayed to the Lord of the 
Kaaba for deliverance. Then straightway he re^ 
tired to his house. 

Up rose certain men of Mecca who had liked 
not the ban which had been placed upon their 
fellow citizens; and having spoken their minds, 
they put on their armor and went to the Quarter 
of Abu Talib and commanded all who had taken 
refuge there to go forth to their respective homes 
in peace and security. 

There followed a few months of liberty and 
repose. But it was broken abruptly by the death 
of two faithful friends of the Prophet, his wife, 
Khadijah, and his venerable uncle, Abu Talib. 
Cut off from the powerful protection of the latter, 
accusation and insult were now heaped upon 
Mahomet as nobody had dared do while his uncle 
was alive. At one time the populace cast dirt 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 135 

upon his head. When he returned home in this 
plight, one of his daughters rose to wipe it off, 
and as she did so, wept. But Mahomet comforted 
her, saying: 

“My daughter, weep not! for verily the Lord 
will be thy father's helper." 

The people of Mecca were so bitter against him, 
and the number of his converts grew so slowly, 
that within two weeks after the death of Abu 
Talib, Mahomet decided to go to Tayif, a city 
some seventy miles east of Mecca, to see if per¬ 
chance God might turn the hearts of that people 
from the worship of idols to Himself. 

With only one companion, the Prophet set 
forth from Mecca to summon Tayif to repentance. 
At first his way led through barren regions, but 
as he neared Tayif he passed along fertile valleys 
green with vineyards and gardens. The beauty 
of the scene seemed to Mahomet an augury of 
better things to come, but his hopes were soon 
cruelly dashed. 

“■If then thou art a Prophet, why do not the 
people of thine own city believe in thee ? ” taunted 
the men of Tayif. 


136 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

To hasten his departure from their midst, the 
people hooted him through the streets, pelted 
him with stones, and obliged him to flee from the 
city for his life. The relentless rabble did not 
cease from the chase until they had pursued him, 
bleeding from his wounds, several miles from the 
city. His companion sought to shield him from 
the stones, but was himself badly wounded. 

When the men of Tayif were satisfied that they 
were well rid of their troublesome visitor, they 
ceased from the chase and returned to their homes. 
Mahomet, exhausted and mortified, crept into an 
orchard, and rested there under a vine, lifting his 
heart in touching petitions to God. 

In this hour of humiliation he little dreamed, 
despite his intense faith in his mission, that the 
time would come when countless millions would 
hold him in supreme honor and would give to 
him and to his teaching their absolute allegiance. 
Still less did he dream that the day would come 
when mighty empires would tremble at his 


name. 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


137 


IV 

The Flight 

Certain men of Medina, having talked with 
Mahomet in his city at the time of the pilgrimage, 
believed his teaching and confessed, “The Lord 
our God is one God, and Mahomet is His Prophet.” 
Returning to their city, these converts spread his 
teaching, and the number of believers increased 
rapidly, until they became the strongest power in 
Medina. Then they sent to Mecca an urgent in¬ 
vitation to Mahomet and all his followers to take 
refuge in their city, pledging themselves to pro¬ 
tect him even as they protected their own wives 
and children. 

Then Mahomet commanded his followers, 
saying, “Depart unto Medina, for God hath 
verily given unto you brethren in that city, and 
a home in which ye may find refuge." 

According to his instructions, they made their 
preparations and set out in companies, secretly. 
Those who had the means rode two and two 
upon camels; the rest walked, even though 
Medina was two hundred and fifty miles distant. 


138 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

The Coreish looked on in amazement as family 
after family silently disappeared. Within two 
months all the Believers save Mahomet and his 
devoted friend Abu Bekr had stolen away, in 
number about one hundred and fifty. 

Then the wrath of the Coreish was hot against 
Mahomet, and one night they sent forth men to 
his house to capture him. Mahomet, apprised of 
their coming, escaped by a secret way, and joining 
Abu Bekr, fled with him from the city. 

Clambering in the dark up bare rugged heights, 
they reached at last a cavern on a lofty peak, a 
league distant from the city. 

The Coreish, finding that Mahomet had es¬ 
caped, scoured the country for him, thirsting 
for his blood. 

As the morning light crept through a crevice 
into the cavern, Abu Bekr, beholding it, said, 
trembling: 

“ Suppose they should look through the crack and 
see us here at their very feet! We are but two! ” 

“ Nay, think not thus,” replied Mahomet. “ We 
are but two, but God is in the midst, a third.” 

The Coreish, armed with swords, came even to 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 139 

the mouth of the cavern. A spider had spun 
its web across the opening, and a pigeon perched 
close by. The Coreish, looking, said, “Spiders' 
webs are over it as old as Mahomet himself," 
and they went their way. 

Three days they remained in the cavern, 
receiving for their food milk from a flock of goats 
which was driven by the cavern by a servant in 
Abu Bekr’s employ. 

When the Coreish had abandoned their search 
as hopeless, Mahomet and Abu Bekr crept forth 
from their hiding-place and made their way to a 
place where two swift camels and a guide awaited 
them. Then, without being discovered or mo¬ 
lested, they proceeded to Medina, where they 
were welcomed most joyfully. 

The year of the flight of Mahomet from Mecca is 
taken by all Mohammedans as the date from which 
they reckon time. 

V 

A Day of Triumph 

Eight years passed by. Mahomet had become 
not only the Prophet of Medina but her ruler as 


140 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


well. Many of the tribes in the vicinity of Medina 
had put away their idol worship and had given 
him their allegiance. The wisdom of his rule and 
the rich rewards which he gave to those who de¬ 
clared for Islam, as the new faith was called, 
caused his fame to spread throughout Arabia as 
a great and generous Prince. The time had come 
when at his call ten thousand men would flock to 
his standard and would willingly risk their lives 
in battle to advance the faith. 

They knew that if they escaped death, they 
would grow rich from the plunder of their enemies. 
If they died, they anticipated the joys of Paradise, 
for Mahomet taught that the surest way to win 
Paradise was to die fighting those who refused to 
adopt the true faith. The Paradise he pictured 
was one to tempt the thirsty Arabs. There the 
true Believers would rest on soft couches in the 
cool shade of green gardens, watered by mur¬ 
muring streams. Clad in green flowered silk and 
decked with gold and silver ornaments, they would 
drink fragrant wine or sparkling water from silver 
goblets handed to them by beautiful black-eyed 
maidens or would taste the delicious fruits hanging 
close at hand in tempting clusters. 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


141 


At last Mahomet felt strong enough to realize 
the dream of his life. Now he could conquer the 
city that had despised and rejected him: he could 
force Mecca to acknowledge him her Prophet and 
Chief. 

He summoned all Believers to join him at 
Medina, prepared for war. But he gave no hint 
of the expedition he had in mind. Indeed, he was 
so anxious to surprise Mecca that he did not con¬ 
fide his purpose even to Abu Bekr, his dearest 
friend. Daily he prayed in the mosque which 
had been built in Medina for a place of wor¬ 
ship : 

“0 Lord! Let not any spy carry tidings to 
the Coreish. Blind their eyes and take away 
their sight until I come suddenly upon them and 
take them unawares.” 

Only at the last moment did he announce his 
project, and then with strict commands to keep 
any word from reaching Mecca. Within a day's 
march of Mecca, Mahomet ordered that at night 
every one should build a fire on the heights so 
that the citizens of Mecca, beholding, should be 
struck with terror at the size of the advancing 


142 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


army which threatened them, and should know 
resistance to be useless. 

It happened as he planned. For when the 
Meccans beheld ten thousand fires blazing on 
the mountains, their hearts quailed within them. 

Then Abu Sofian, the greatest chief in the city, 
one who had always been an unyielding opponent 
of Mahomet, went forth from Mecca to the camp 
of the Prophet. Mahomet, hearing of his arrival, 
said to his uncle, Abbas, “Take him to thy tent, 
and bring him hither in the morning.” 

When morning was come, Abbas brought Abu 
Sofian to the tent of Mahomet. 

Mahomet, seeing him, exclaimed, “0 Abu 
Sofian, hast thou not yet learned that there is 
no God save God alone ?” 

“Noble Sire,” answered his guest, “had there 
been any God besides, truly He would have 
been of some help to me.” 

“And dost thou not acknowledge that I am the 
Prophet of the Lord?” pursued Mahomet. 

“Noble Sire! As to this there is still some 
doubt in my heart.” 

“Woe to thee!” broke in Abbas. “This is no 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 143 

time for hesitancy! Believe and testify forthwith 
the creed of Islam or else thy neck shall be in 
danger.” 

Forthwith Abu Sofian confessed, “Mahomet is 
the Prophet of God.” 

Thus at last, Mahomet saw his great enemy at 
his feet, a suppliant. Yet showed he no exulta¬ 
tion. 

“Haste thee to Mecca,” he said, “and whoso¬ 
ever to-day shall .take refuge in thy house or in 
the Kaaba, and whosoever closeth the door of 
his house, shall be in safety.” 

Abu Sofian hastened to leave the camp. But 
before he could leave, the armed forces had al¬ 
ready been drawn up into companies, each com¬ 
pany bearing a white banner presented to it by 
Mahomet. Abu Sofian was filled with amaze¬ 
ment, as he recognized the various tribes. 

“And what is that black mass with dark mail 
and shining lances?” he asked. 

“That,” replied Abbas, “is the favored band 
which guards the person of the Prophet.” 

“Verily,” exclaimed the astonished chief, “this 
kingdom of thy nephew is a mighty kingdom.” 


144 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


“Nay, Abu Sofian! He is more than a King, 
he is a mighty Prophet." 

“Yea, thou sayest truly! Now let me go." 

“Away then," assented Abbas, “and speed 
thee to thy people." 

Abu Sofian hastened back to Mecca, and as he 
entered the city he shouted at the top of his voice: 

“ Mahomet is close at hand ! He hath a mighty 
army too great for us to withstand. Whoever 
entereth the house of Abu Sofian, whoever entereth 
the Holy House, whoever closeth his door upon 
himself, shall be saved this day." 

Hearing this shout, the people fled to their 
homes or to the Kaaba. 

Meanwhile the advancing army of Mahomet 
came into full view of the city. As he saw that 
no army came forth to oppose his advance, the 
Prophet bowed low on his camel and gave thanks 
to God for delivering the city into his hands. 

His troops he divided into four parts so that 
they might simultaneously enter the city at four 
different points. To them all Mahomet gave 
strict orders, “Offer violence to nobody, and fight 
not, except it be in the last extremity." 


MAHOMET THE PROPHET 


145 


For it was his noble wish to have his conquest 
of the city which had cast him forth unmarred by 
any bloodshed. 

When his troops were advancing into Mecca, 
Mahomet caused his leather tent to be pitched in 
the open space north of the city. The great 
banner was planted at the door of his tent, and 
he retired within to rest awhile. 

When he came forth clad in a yellow mantle, with 
a black turban upon his head, he was a striking 
figure indeed as he stood overlooking the city. His 
coal-black eyes gleamed beneath his noble brow. 
The locks which appeared beneath his turban were 
still jet black and slightly curling, but in his long 
bushy beard many white hairs now had appeared. 

He mounted his favorite camel and, proceeding 
into the city, went straightway to the Kaaba. 

Reverently he saluted the Sacred Stone; seven 
times he made the circuit of the temple, and then, 
striking the great idol Hobal with his staff, he 
ordered it cut down and destroyed. 

“ Truth hath come and falsehood gone,” he 
cried as the image fell with a crash; “for verily 
falsehood vanisheth away.” 


146 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

In like manner, as he pointed at each in turn, 
the three hundred idols which surrounded the 
Kaaba were hewn down and destroyed. It re¬ 
mained only to obliterate the pictures painted on 
the walls of the Kaaba and to send a crier through 
the city with the proclamation: "Whoever be- 
lieveth in God let him not leave in his house any 

image whatso¬ 
ever that he doth 
not break in 
pieces.” 

When this had 
been done, Ma¬ 
homet com¬ 
manded Bilah,the 
slave whom Abu 
Bekr had rescued 
from torture years 
before, to sound 
the call for 
prayer, even as 
Bilah had been 
wont to do it in Medina. Forthwith the negro, 
tall, dark, and gaunt, mounted to the roof of the 



Forthwith the Negro mounted to the 
Roof of the Kaaba. 





MAHOMET THE PROPHET 147 

Kaaba, and with his powerful vibrant voice gave 
the call which to this day summons the Faithful 
to prayer. 

“Great is the Lord! Great is the Lord! I 
bear witness that there is no God but the Lord. I 
bear witness that Mahomet is the Prophet of 
God. Come unto Prayer. Come unto Salva¬ 
tion. God is Great! God is Great! There is 
no God but the Lord.” 

The multitude, ranging themselves in rows 
about the Kaaba, worshipped God with prayers 
and prostrations after the ritual Mahomet had 
given them. 

Despite the destruction of their idols, the 
people of Mecca were won to Mahomet by his 
mercy and generosity and by his expressions of 
ardent love for his native city. 

“Thou art the choicest spot on the earth unto 
me,” he said, “and the most delectable. If thy 
people had not cast me forth, I never had for¬ 
saken thee!” 

The citizens of Medina feared that having con¬ 
quered his native city, Mahomet would not re¬ 
turn to Medina, and they were greatly troubled. 


148 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


But Mahomet, hearing of their distress, reassured 
them, saying: 

“God forbid that I should ever leave you! I 
came to Medina a fugitive, and ye gave me a 
place of refuge; an outcast, and ye took me in; 
despised, and ye cherished me. If all the rest of 
mankind should go one way, and the men of 
Medina another, verily I should go with the men 
of Medina. Where ye live I will live, and there 
also will I die.” 

— “ The Life of Mahomet” (from original sources) by 
Sir William Muir, K.C.S.I. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 
I 

Prince Alexander Makes a Conquest 
HERE came to Philip, King of Macedon 



A and Lord of Greece, a certain man of 
Thessaly offering a fine horse for sale to the King. 
He asked so large a price for the horse that 
Philip's curiosity was aroused, and he said, “To¬ 
morrow I will see the horse and judge for myself 
whether he is worth the price you ask." 

At the appointed time, Philip and his court 
went forth to a meadow to make trial of the 
horse. With them went Alexander, the King's 
young son. 

All cried out in admiration when they saw the 
magnificent black horse that awaited them. He 
was of unusual size, and had a white spot on his 
forehead in shape like the brow of an ox. From 
this, as some say, came his name, Bucephalus, 
which means Ox-head. 


149 


150 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

“Splendid !” “What a noble animal !” cried 
the royal party, but their exclamations of delight 
died away when they saw the utter wildness and 
apparent viciousness of the horse. Not only 
could no one mount him, but even if his grooms so 
much as spoke to him, he would rush upon them 
fiercely. 

“Out upon you for bringing before me such a 
savage monster!” cried Philip to the Thessalian. 
“Take the wild beast away!” 

Alexander, meanwhile, had been watching the 
horse intently. The thrill of admiration he had 
felt on first beholding the beauty of the animal 
and on observing his mettle had become a passion¬ 
ate desire to call him his own. Judge then his 
dismay when he heard his father giving orders to 
lead the horse away! 

“What a horse they are losing,” he exclaimed, 
“simply for want of enough power and skill to 
manage him!” 

At first Philip paid no heed to the remarks. 
But as Alexander with flushed cheeks and stormy 
brow strode up and down, many times repeating 
his words, Philip rebuked him. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 151 

“Young man,” said he, “you find fault with 
your elders as if you knew more than they! 
Perhaps you think that you could manage the 
horse better than they. ” 

“Indeed I could,” replied the prince. 

“If you try to ride him and fail,” asked his 
father, “what forfeit will you pay?” 

“I will pay the price of the horse.” 

At this all present laughed. 

Then Alexander ran to Bucephalus, and taking 
hold of the bridle, turned him toward the sun, 
for he had noticed that Bucephalus was afraid of 
his shadow which fell before him and moved as he 
moved. Stroking the horse gently, Alexander 
talked to him. Gradually the fury of the beast 
subsided. Then, quietly letting his mantle fall, 
the prince leaped lightly to the horse’s back, and 
took his seat firmly. 

Never before had Bucephalus been thus in¬ 
sulted. There was a moment of quivering 
astonishment. Then the great beast gathered 
himself together and sprang lightly into the air. 
But when he landed on his feet, there was still the 
unaccustomed burden on his back. He bucked 


152 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


and turned; he stood on his hind legs; he stood 
on his fore legs; he tried his best to shake himself 
free. Still the slight young figure clung to his 



Then Alexander ran to Bucephalus, and taking the 
Bridle, turned him toward the Sun. 


back, and still, without using whip or spur, 
Alexander simply talked to him. Finding all 
his efforts to unseat his rider without avail, 
Bucephalus gradually grew quieter. Then, per¬ 
ceiving that now the horse desired only to run, 



ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


153 


the Prince set off at a full gallop, urging him on 
with voice and spur. 

King Philip and those about him watched in 
breathless silence. A winding of the meadow 
took horse and rider out of their sight. Would 
they ever see the Prince again? How could the 
King have been so mad as to allow his son thus 
to court death? A few moments of suspense, 
and, behold, Alexander was returning! The 
horse, obeying the boy's touch, came straight 
back to them. Then all save the King burst 
into applause. Philip, weeping, embraced his 
son, saying, “My son, seek some other kingdom 
to rule; Macedonia is too small for thee." 

Thus the Prince tamed and won the horse 
Bucephalus. Yet though in Alexander the 
spirited creature had found a master, no other 
man was ever able to mount him. Until the 
day that the great horse died in far distant India, 
it was ever upon his back that Alexander was 
wont to lead the charge in battle. The proud, 
fearless spirit which animated each of them so 
united them in understanding, sympathy, and 
affection that wherever the name of Alexander 
is known, men remember Bucephalus. 


154 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


II 

Alexander Seeks New Kingdoms 

When Alexander was only twenty years of age, 
the death of his father brought him to the 
throne of Macedon. Quickly settling the affairs 
of Greece, the young King led his army forth into 
Asia, to add to his realm by conquest. He dared 
to believe that he could compel the millions who 
bowed the knee to the Great King of Persia to 
acknowledge him their lord and master. The vast 
hoards of silver and of gold which the Persian 
monarchs had been collecting for centuries he 
would make his booty. 

At Issus he met and defeated the great army of 
Darius, King of the Persians. Darius fled from 
the battle-field, but his mother, wife, and daughters 
were all taken captive. Alexander treated them 
with the greatest consideration. They were 
allowed all the luxuries to which they had been 
accustomed and were served with the pomp and 
splendor due a royal family in prosperity. 

During the next two years Alexander added 
Phoenicia, Syria, and Egypt to his kingdom. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


155 


While he was thus engaged, messengers came to 
him bearing a letter from Darius, offering to pay 
ten thousand talents as a ransom for the prisoners 
and to cede to Alexander all the countries on that 
side of the Euphrates, as well as to give him his 
daughter in marriage, if he would agree to make 
peace. 

When Alexander told his friends of the offer of 
Darius, Parmenio, one of his generals, said : 

“If I were Alexander, I would accept.” 

“So would I, if I were Parmenio,” retorted 
Alexander. 

To Darius he wrote, “ If you will come to me, 
you shall be treated like a king, but you must 
come to me as to the Lord of all Asia, and not as 
to an equal. And if you dispute my right to the 
possession of your realms, stay and try the event 
of another battle, but hope not any more to 
secure yourself by flight, for wherever you fly, 
thither I will surely pursue you.” 

Seeing that there was no other way but to 
fight, Darius collected a vast army of more than 
a million men and awaited the coming of the 
conqueror. He chose for a battle-field a great 


156 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


plain near Arbela. This was levelled so that 
both his chariots, from which extended sharp 
scythes, and the vast numbers of his army could 
be most effective.' 

At once Alexander crossed the Tigris and 
marched to meet the Persian King. 

Hillocks hid the enemy from their view, how¬ 
ever, until the Macedonians were only four 
miles distant. Here Alexander, having halted 
his army, gave orders for the fortification of the 
camp. The rest of the day he spent riding about 
the region, observing the enemy's arrangement 
of troops and learning the nature of the ground. 

Returning to the camp, he calle.d his officers 
together and spoke to them thus : 

“This battle is not for Syria — Phoenicia, or 
Egypt, but for all Asia. Remind the men you 
command how great is the reward at stake! 
See to it that they keep in their ranks; that they 
march silently, but when the war shout is to be 
raised, let it be loud and fearful. And know well 
that the issue of the battle depends upon how 
each man performs his duty." Then, having 
posted guards, the Macedonians went to rest. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


157 


Darius, meanwhile, by torchlight was inspecting 
his troops drawn up in battle array, fully armed. 

The oldest friends of Alexander, as they saw 
the plain covered 
by the vast host, 
and the flashing 
of myriad torches, 
and heard the 
uproar in the 
enemy's camp 
like the roaring 
of a tempestuous 
sea, were fearful. 

Parmenio came 
to Alexander and 
urged him to 
attack the Per¬ 
sians by night, 
thinking to reap advantage from the confusion 
in the darkness. But Alexander answered : “I 
will not steal a victory." 

Having offered sacrifices to the gods, Alexander, 
too, retired to his tent to sleep. It is said that he 
slept that night better than usual. Indeed he 



Darius was inspecting his Troops. 



158 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


was still sleeping when his officers came to attend 
him the next morning, and they were obliged 
themselves to issue orders to the army to take 
their morning meal. 

Then Parmenio went into the King’s apartment 
and called him two or three times by name. 
When he awoke, Parmenio asked him: “Why 
do you sleep as if you had already conquered, 
rather than as one having to fight to-day the 
greatest battle the world ever heard of?” 

Alexander smiled. “Is it not as good as a 
victory,” he asked, “to have overtaken the 
enemy?” 

The army of Darius meanwhile had stood under 
arms all night, for they feared a night attack. 
Thus the morning found them wearied, with loss 
of rest and with the fear that had been growing 
in their hearts all night. 

In the van of the army Darius had stationed his 
scythe-bearing chariots, for upon them he de¬ 
pended to cut down the Macedonian phalanx. 

When Darius gave orders for the chariots to 
advance, they were met by showers of Grecian 
darts and arrows, which slew many of the horses 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


159 


and drivers before the phalanx was reached. 
Then as Alexander had ordered, the Macedonian 
ranks opened and the chariots ran straight through 
the army, without inflicting harm. 

When Darius saw the chariots thus made 
worthless and beheld Alexander pressing furiously 
forward, the King felt overwhelming fear clutch 
his heart; turning, he was the first to flee from 
the field. His generals followed. 

Left without a king to fight for or a general to 
command them, the great host was seized by 
panic and soon the battle had become a rout. 
Yet there was much hard fighting done, especially 
on the wings, where tidings did not at once arrive 
of the flight of Darius. Indeed the Persians on 
the right wing pressed Parmenio so hard that he 
sent to Alexander for reenforcements. Alexander, 
then engaged in the pursuit of Darius, received 
Parmenio's message and immediately turned about 
to go to his relief. Before reaching him, however, 
he learned that Parmenio was already victorious, 
and that in that quarter also the enemy had been 
put to flight. 

Meanwhile, thousands of the Persians were 


160 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


slain, both on the battle-field and in the pursuit, 
but Darius, hidden by the thick dust, eluded 
capture. 

Alexander was now acknowledged lord of 
Asia. Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, where were 
the royal treasures, heaps of gold and silver, untold 
wealth of precious stones and royal robes, were 
at his disposal. These riches he bestowed freely 
upon his friends, and upon all who had distin¬ 
guished themselves by deeds of valor. 

Having occupied these cities, Alexander con¬ 
tinued the pursuit of Darius, over mountains and 
through deserts, until at last he was close upon 
the royal fugitive. 

When finally he came up with the King, it was 
to find him forsaken, lying dead in his chariot, 
pierced with many darts by the hands of his own 
kin. 

Alexander reverently covered the dead body 
with his own robe and sentenced the King's 
murderers to a terrible death. The body of 
Darius, having been embalmed, was buried with 
royal honors in the royal tomb at Persepolis. 
The children of the dead King were given a princely 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


161 


education and ample revenues, and the brother 
of Darius was admitted into the number of 
Alexander's friends. 

To bind all parts of his empire together, Alex¬ 
ander founded many cities in Asia and in Egypt, 
in each of which at least a part of the people 
were Greeks. Thus knowledge of the Greek 
language and customs was spread. Further, he 
chose thirty thousand Asiatic boys and girls and 
gave them masters to instruct them in Greek 
literature and to train them to fight in the Mace¬ 
donian manner. To please the Asiatics, he 
adopted the dress of the Persians and many of 
their manners, encouraging his officers to do the 
same. Alexander himself took the beautiful Rox¬ 
ana, the daughter of one of the kings he had 
conquered, to be his wife. Many other Mace¬ 
donians also married Asiatic women. To please 
his subjects in Macedon and in Greece, he sent 
home a large share of the booty which he had 
taken in the war. Thus Alexander sought to 
please all his subjects and to unite them in feelings 
and in customs. 


M 


162 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


III 

Alexander Meets a Danger that Equals his 
Courage 

Alexander came to the Hydaspes River in India 
and encamped on its banks. Since it was the 
rainy season, the river was turbid and swollen. 

On the opposite bank, Porus, king of the 
country beyond the river, was seen waiting, 
with all his army and his elephants, to prevent 
Alexander from crossing into his kingdom. While 
Porus himself remained with the main body of 
his troops directly opposite where he saw Alex¬ 
ander's camp, the Indian King sent detachments 
of his men to guard all the fords of the stream. 

Alexander saw that it would be impossible for 
him to cross where Porus was awaiting him. 
The Indian army, splendidly equipped for battle, 
stood ready to attack his soldiers the moment 
they landed. Porus had a very great number of 
elephants trained to war stationed on the bank, 
facing the river. Alexander knew that his horses 
would be terrified by the appearance and the 
trumpeting of the elephants and would refuse to 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


163 


mount the bank. Indeed, he feared that even 
before they reached the shore, the horses, seeing 
the elephants in the distance, would become 
frantic and leap from the rafts into the water. 

Alexander saw that he must devise some way 
to steal a passage across the river. 

Accordingly, night after night he led out his 
cavalry along the bank in different directions 
commanding troopers to raise the war shout, as 
if they were actually preparing to attempt the 
passage, and Porus marched along the opposite 
bank each night with his elephants in the direction 
of the noise, ready to oppose the crossing. 

When this had been done many times and 
nothing had come of it, Porus ceased to fear 
Alexander's nightly performances, and no longer 
sallied forth with his elephants to follow the 
movements of the Macedonian cavalry, though 
he still kept spies posted at various points along 
the bank. 

Several miles from Alexander's camp, at a point 
where the river curved, there was a bluff, densely 
covered with trees. Directly facing this bluff, 
an island, also thickly wooded, lay in the river. 


164 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


Here, under cover of the trees, Alexander decided 
to ferry the main part of his army across. 

On the night that he chose to carry out his 
stratagem, he gave orders that there should be 
the accustomed tumult of voices and of arms, and 
the flashing of torches. One body of troops he 
sent in the usual open manner to take position 
on the bank halfway between the bluff and the 
camp. Another detachment was to remain in 
the camp under Craterus. To him Alexander 
gave the order, “Remain here as long as Porus 
remains opposite with his army and elephants. 
If, however, he draws off his elephants and 
marches against me, leaving only a part of his 
army, then do you cross the river with all pos¬ 
sible speed.” 

Then Alexander with picked troops, about six 
thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry, 
marched secretly to the bluff, keeping well inland 
so that they could not be detected. 

There they stuffed with straw and stitched 
securely the skins with which they had been 
provided for making the rafts for the transpor¬ 
tation of the horses. There, too, they fastened 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


165 


together the boats, which had been carried to 
the spot in sections. 

During the night a violent tempest broke upon 
them. Such was the roaring of the thunder and 
of the heavy rain, that the sounds of their prepa¬ 
rations, the clashing of arms, and the shouting of 
orders were drowned in the mightier voices of 
the storm. 

Toward daybreak the storm abated, and then, 
as silently as possible, horses and men embarked. 
They had passed the island and were close to the 
opposite bank before any suspicion of their coming 
reached the Indian sentinels. These, on behold¬ 
ing the boats approaching, put spurs to their horses 
and galloped off to carry the tidings to Porus. 

Steering to the bank, the troops disembarked, 
Alexander being the first to step on shore. Then 
they discovered that what they had supposed to 
be the mainland was really another island, and 
that between themselves and the mainland flowed 
a torrent, swollen by the rain. 

Into this, all armed, they marched. Such was 
the depth of the water that it reached even above 
the breasts of the foot-soldiers, and the horses 


166 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


could keep but their heads above water. The 
ground was very slippery, and the current swift. 
Yet men and horses followed Alexander in safety 
to the mainland. 

Scarcely had they made the land and formed 
into line, when the son of Porus appeared with 
two thousand men and many war chariots. 
Alexander easily put them to flight with a de¬ 
tachment of his cavalry. The son of Porus was 
slain with four hundred of his horsemen, and the 
chariots, stuck fast in the mud, were captured, 
horses and all. 

Now Porus himself came forth with all his 
strength. 

He chose his position with care, drawing up his 
army on level and firm ground. His elephants 
he placed in the front line at regular intervals 
of about one hundred feet. The spaces between 
them were filled with his finest foot-soldiers, the 
advance guard of these men being a few feet in 
the rear of the elephants. His cavalry he placed 
on the wings. 

This arrangement gave his army from a distance 
the appearance of a fortified city, the elephants 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


167 


seeming to be projecting towers, and the com¬ 
pact lines of foot-soldiers the walls between. 
Porus himself, a man of gigantic size, was mounted 
upon the largest elephant. 

Alexander, when he came in sight of the Indian 
army thus drawn up for battle, halted his men 
and gave them time to rest and to get their breath. 
After studying carefully the arrangement of the 
opposing force, he remarked to those near him: 
“At last I see a danger that matches my courage. 
For the battle to-day is to be waged at the same 
time with wild beasts and with men of uncommon 
valor.” 

Alexander feared lest, if he should advance 
against the centre, the elephants might work the 
very mischief Porus had hoped for, both in terrify¬ 
ing his horses and in trampling down his men. 
For this reason he decided to attack the cavalry 
on the enemy's left wing with a body of his own 
fine horse. 

He ordered the Macedonian phalanx not to 
advance until by his cavalry charge he had thrown 
both the enemy's cavalry and infantry into 
confusion. 


168 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

All being ready, Alexander, mounted upon Bu¬ 
cephalus, led the charge. 

A heavy storm of arrows, followed by furious 
charges of cavalry, disordered the Indian cavalry. 
Then, while they were attempting to rally, Coenus 
attacked them from the rear as Alexander had 
commanded. This double charge the enemy’s 
cavalry could not withstand. Breaking their 
ranks, they fled to the elephants “as to a friendly 
wall.” 

Upon this, Porus ordered the elephants forward. 
They were met at once by the compact ranks of 
the Macedonian phalanx who let fly a shower of 
darts, and stabbed them with their long spears. 
Nevertheless the elephants charged furiously, and 
even the close ranks of the phalanx were mowed 
down under the feet of the furious beasts. 

To the Macedonians it was a new method of 
fighting. Yet those who escaped the elephants’ 
charge bravely followed them, as they retreated, 
with a fresh volley of darts. 

Meanwhile the Indian cavalry had rallied and 
had attacked Alexander’s cavalry. But they were 
again forced to flee to the elephants for protection. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


169 


Thus cooped up in a small place, they were 
easily cut down. The elephants did more damage 
to their own side than to the Macedonians, who, 
having a wide space to move about in, quickly 
learned to give way when the elephants charged. 
Then as the beasts retreated they followed them 
and galled them with showers of weapons. At 
length the elephants became frantic; many of 
them, being now without drivers, trampled down 
the Indians, both men and horses. 

At last, crazed by their wounds, and for the 
most part riderless, the elephants retreated from 
the battle, their faces to the enemy, “like so many 
ships backing water/' trumpeting as they went. 

Then Alexander ordered his cavalry to surround 
the Indian army, and his infantry to advance with 
locked shields, to give an irresistible force to their 
attack. Thus at the mercy of their foe, the 
Indians were hewn down, except such few as were 
able to escape through some gap in the cordon of 
Alexander's cavalry. 

Unlike Darius, Porus refused to flee as long as 
any part of his army offered resistance. Such 
was his great strength that the javelins he hurled 


170 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


seemed to fly with as much force as if they had 
been thrown by a catapult. But if he inflicted 
wounds and death upon many, his imposing 
stature made him the target for countless weapons. 
Despite his strong armor he had received many 
wounds, and at length he grew faint from loss of 
blood. Then the darts seemed to fall from his 
hands rather than to be thrown. The huge 
elephant he rode defended him with the greatest 
courage as long as his master could fight. Then 
perceiving him about to fall, the elephant knelt 
cautiously, and with his trunk gently drew every 
dart from the King's body. 

Messenger after messenger came to Porus from 
Alexander, asking him to come to him, but Porus 
would not yield. At last came an Indian, an old- 
time friend, who had sometime before given his 
allegiance to Alexander. To him the brave King 
listened. Then having received water to relieve 
his faintness, he agreed to go to Alexander. 

When Porus was brought before him, Alexander 
marvelled at the great stature of the man, for he 
was more than seven feet tall, and his breastplate 
was twice the width of that of an ordinary man. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


171 


But still more did Alexander marvel at the majestic 
bearing of his conquered foe. For though his army 
had been utterly defeated, Porus did not seem to be 
broken in spirit, but advanced to meet Alexander 
as one hero would meet another. 

Then Alexander asked: “How do you wish to 
be treated ?" 

“Like a king, 0 Alexander/' Porus replied. 

Delighted with this answer, Alexander said: 
“But that I would do for my own sake. Have 
you nothing to request for yourself?" 

“No," answered Porus. “ In what I have asked 
all things are included." 

Alexander, more than ever admiring him, 
immediately not only gave him back his own 
dominions to rule as Alexander's lieutenant, but 
also added to them another kingdom of even 
greater extent. From that day Porus ever re¬ 
mained loyal to Alexander. 

Such then was the battle which Alexander 
fought against Porus and the Indians on the hither 
side of the Hydaspes. To commemorate the 
event he founded two cities, one on the battle¬ 
field, and the other at the point where he had 


172 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


started to cross the river. The latter city he 
called Bucephalus, in honor of the gallant old 
horse which that very day had died, after having 
endured so many toils and hardships with his 
master. Alexander mourned him as a friend. 

IV 

Alexander is Conquered 

The victory of the Macedonians over Porus had 
been at such cost to their own army that they 
were disheartened. No such doughty opposition 
had they hitherto encountered. Besides, they had 
left Macedon eight years before and were worn 
and weakened by the many hardships they had 
undergone. Now they had come into a country 
all unknown to them, and they were full of terror 
at perils lurking in these strange regions on the 
outskirts of the world. Besides, longings for 
home and dear ones were strong upon them and 
they had no appetite for further conquest. To 
add to their depression, drenching rains fell daily, 
with incessant thunder and lightning. 

Alexander's ambitions, on the other hand, only 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


173 


waxed greater as the limits of his empire were 
extended. So long as there was any people left 
on earth unconquered, so long he wished to con¬ 
tinue his conquests. The rumors of dangers 
ahead greater than any he had yet encountered 
simply whetted his desire to go forward. Be¬ 
sides, there was united with his ambition for a 
world-wide empire the never satisfied thirst for 
knowledge. He wished to explore the mysteries 
of the unknown countries which lay beyond and 
to arrive at last at the sea which encircled the 
world and to learn its nature. 

But he observed the sullen looks of his soldiers 
and divined that their thoughts and longings were 
far different from his. 

Accordingly, having called together his friends 
and the officers of the army, he spoke to them as 
follows: 

“ Seeing that you, 0 Macedonians, no longer 
follow me into dangers with your usual enthusiasm, 
I have called you together so that I may either 
persuade you to go farther or be persuaded by 
you to turn back. 

"If we have already conquered all the nations 



174 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 

we have met, why should we hesitate to go on 
and add the nations beyond to our conquests? 
It is now but a short distance to the sea. Our 


He observed the Sullen Looks of his Soldiers. 

fleet shall pass from the Persian Gulf to the 
Pillars of Hercules, and all Libya and all Asia 
as well shall be ours, and the gods will make one 
the boundaries of our empire and of the world. 

“On the other hand, if we now return, the un¬ 
conquered peoples will incite to rebellion those 





ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


175 


we have conquered, and all our labors will be 
lost. 

“ Wherefore, dear friends and countrymen, let 
us go on! A life spent in valiant deeds is pleasant, 
and so is death also, when we leave behind us an 
immortal name. If I, your general, had ever 
shrunk from sharing with you the toils and hard¬ 
ships to which you have been exposed, then might 
your hearts fail you. But our labors have been 
ever in common. And as the dangers have been 
equal, so have'been the rewards. All the land 
we have subdued is yours and you are its rulers. 
And when all Asia is subdued, then, by the gods, 
I will not only satisfy each man's utmost desires, 
but far exceed them, and you may then go home 
objects of envy to all men." 

After Alexander had spoken thus, a long silence 
followed and the men kept their eyes fixed upon 
the ground. All feared to speak in opposition to 
Alexander, yet no one was willing to assent to 
what he proposed. Again and again Alexander 
urged them to speak, even if their opinions differed 
from his. 

At last Ccenus, one of the oldest generals, who 


176 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


had served in Philip’s campaigns as well as in all 
of Alexander’s, summoned his courage, rose, and 
spoke in behalf of the army. 

“The more I consider, 0 King,” said he, “the 
number and the greatness of the exploits we have 
performed under your command since we set out 
from home, the more does it seem to me best to 
set some limit to our toils and dangers. You 
see yourself how few of us are left of those who 
started out with you. And these few have no 
longer the same strength of body, and they are 
disheartened. Then, too, all who have parents 
living yearn to see them. They yearn to see 
their wives and children — they yearn to see the 
soil of their native land. 

“If then, 0 King, you lead them on against 
their wishes, you will not find them the same men 
in the face of danger, for they will fight without 
heart. 

“But do you, if it agrees with your wishes, 
return home with us; see your mother once 
again; and settle the affairs of Greece and 
Macedon. Then, if you wish to form a new ex¬ 
pedition against any people, other Macedonians 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


177 


will follow you, young men full of vigor instead 
of old men worn out with toil. 

“Moderation in the midst of success is the 
noblest of virtues, 0 King!” 

When Coenus had ended his address, those 
present showed their approval, some by loud 
applause, some by silent tears streaming from 
their eyes. 

Alexander, angry at the freedom with which 
Coenus had spoken and the approval given him 
by the other officers, dismissed the meeting. The 
next day, while his wrath was still hot, he again 
called together the same men and told them that 
he himself would go on, but that he would not 
force any of the Macedonians to accompany him 
against their wishes. 

“Those of you who wish,” said he, “are free 
to go home, and when you arrive there, you may 
tell your friends that you have returned, leaving 
your King in the midst of his enemies.” 

With these words he left them and retired to 
his tent. Nor would he allow any of his friends 
to come near him that day or the next, for he 
waited, thinking that the mood of the soldiers 

N 


178 HEROES OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE 


would change. When on the third day there was 
still a deep sullen silence throughout the camp, 
it was evident to Alexander that instead of hav¬ 
ing their minds changed by his wrath the men 
were angered by it. 

Then Alexander ordered sacrifices to be made; 
and when the soothsayers announced that the 
omens in sacrificing were against his going on, 
Alexander announced to the army that he had 
resolved to march back. 

Then the soldiers shouted and wept for joy. 
Thronging about him, they blessed Alexander, 
because by them and by them alone, he allowed 
himself to be conquered. 


Printed in the United States of America. 



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few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects. 































































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EVERYCHILD’S SERIES 

Edited by JAMES H. VAN SICKLE, Ph.D. 


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